The Story of Aunt Elenora
by PrincessTriSarahTops
Summary: What if Petunia and Vernon weren't Harry's only living relatives? What if James Potter also had a sister? Elenora Potter is the younger sister of Gryffindor's famed chaser, James Potter. While she may lack James' bolder sentiments, she makes up for it with character and heart. Imagine how Harry Potter's life could have been different if he lived with the aunt he always dreamed of.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Ninety-eight year old Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk in the Headmaster's office of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. So much had changed in the past nine years since Tom Riddle had risen up as the most terrifying Dark Wizard of the past century. _Voldemort. Lord Voldemort._ The old man had to remind himself. That's what Tom was going by now. He should have recognized the signs when he first met the young boy in 1943. Even at a young age, the man who had once been Tom Marvolo Riddle showed signs of sadistic behavior. Seeming to enjoy the torture of animals and tormenting his peers at the orphanage at which he lived.

Following his graduation at Hogwarts, Riddle began working at _Borgin and Burkes;_ a Dark Magic supply shop located in Knockturn Alley. During his brief employment there, he studied the Darks Arts and began to build a group of Dark followers. By 1970, Voldemort had formed his Death Eater organization and officially declared himself the new Dark Lord. The "Dark Lord" and his minions primarily focused their attacks on Muggles or Muggle-born witches and wizards, but anyone who dared cross him could just as easily become a target.

In response to this uprising, Albus had gathered followers of his own. He formed the Order of the Phoenix; a collection of brave witches and wizards who were willing to stand up against Voldemort and his regime. Many of the Order members were friends, colleagues, and formers students of the Hogwarts Headmaster. Others were Ministry of Magic officials working closely with the Order in an attempt to dismantle Voldemort's political footing. Terror and Chaos had been running rampantly through the Magical World since then, as both sides tried to outsmart their opponents.

However, it seemed the end of the war may be nearing after the Headmaster met with Sybill Trelawney for a job interview at the Hog's Head Inn. Meeting to discuss an opening for the Divination post at Hogwarts, Dumbledore hadn't expected the appointment to proven so lucrative. That is to say, he did not believe Sybill Trelawney possessed the gifts of a seer. Much to his surprise, Trelawney _did_ make a prediction that night and it was about to set in motion a series of events that even a powerful wizard like Dumbledore could not predict.


	2. One

March 12, 1980 had a chilly afternoon, but the sixth year potions students at Hogwarts had no way of knowing this. These students were working hard brewing cauldron's full of Amortentia as practice for their N.E.W.T. exams that would take place during their next year at Hogwarts. The usually chilly dungeon classroom was stuffy and filled with powerful scents as the love potions steamed. One Gryffindor student was staring down at her cauldron defiantly, as if daring it to explode or gurgle or some other awful result.

Her name was Elenora Potter, younger sister of Gryffindor's best known chaser James Potter. Like her brother, Elenora had hazel eyes and messy jet black hair. Which the steamy atmosphere of the potions class didn't exactly help to tame. Unlike her brother, Nora was not reckless or mouthy. She was calculating and studious and if she was being honest, she was a bit of a perfectionist. That's why she'd been so frustrated when her first attempt at Amortentia had failed so miserably.

" A watched cauldron never boils, Miss Potter!" Professor Slughorn reminded her from across the room.

"That's exactly the point Professor!" She called good naturedly over her shoulder. The reason she'd failed at her first attempt was because she'd allowed the potion to simmer for too long. And so Elenora brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and re-read the copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ that rested on her knee.

"Miss Potter?" Rolling her eyes, she stopped scanning the tattered pages of the textbook, and spotted Professor Slughorn standing at his desk with Professor McGonagall. She'd been so focused on her potion, she hadn't even heard the classroom door open. "Please gather your things and go with Professor McGonagall, It appears you are wanted in the Headmaster's office."

Despite the fact that most of the 7th year students were legal adults in the Wizarding World, a series of "Ooo"s and "Ahhs" still erupted from Nora's classmates once they heard she was to go the Dumbledore's office. Sighing at their childish antics, she gathered her things and followed Professor McGonagall out of the classroom.

"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore wants to see me?" Nora asked as she walked through the halls with the Gryffindor Head of House. "Is it James and Lily? Are they all right?"

"I'm terribly sorry Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall apologized in her Scottish brogue . "But I haven't the slightest Idea what Professor Dumbledore wants to speak with you about. I only know that I am to escort you to his office."

The pair walked the rest of the way in silence, all the while Elenora was thinking of all the possible things Dumbledore could want to speak with her about. Unfortunately most of those things seemed to start and end with her brother and his wife. For reasons that weren't exactly clear to her, Lily and James had become two of the Dark Lord's number one targets shortly after finding out they were expecting a baby. One month later the youngest Potter still wasn't sure how having a baby made her brother and sister-in-law more of a threat, but she trusted Professor Dumbledore. They reached the bronze eagle that guarded the Headmaster's office. Professor McGonagall gave the password before wishing her student luck and leaving to teach her next Transfiguration lesson.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Nora asked, pushing open the office door.

"Miss Potter! Yes, come in." She creaked the door open and stepped into the office. She was surprised to see not only the Headmaster in his office but also one of her brother's old schoolmates, Severus Snape. "I believe you know Severus, he was in the same year as your brother."

"Yeeaahh." She let the word drag out as she tried to remember what she knew of the man. He was a Slytherin from James' year. And he used to be friends with Lily until one day he called her a Mudblood and ran off the join the Death Eaters. "I remember him." She snarled. Her hand immediately twitched towards the wand pocket of her robes.

"Do you not trust me, Elenora?" Dumbledore asked her calmly. "Do you think I'd summon you to my office, only to have you attacked?"

"Everyone's a suspect." She shrugged, off handedly repeating the propaganda posters that had been scattered around Diagon Alley during her last trip there. Snape was leering quietly by Dumbledore's desk, not speaking. The corner of his mouth twitched as Nora joked about everyone being a suspect. Little did she know that was very much true.

"Well, why don't you have a seat so we can continue our discussion over tea." With a wave of his hand Dumbledore summoned a full tea setting in an act of wandless magic. It always marveled her how the Headmaster could make magic look as casual as walking down a corridor. Magic was like an extension of his body. Still marveling at such a simple trick of summoning, she crossed the room and sat in one of the open chairs opposite of Dumbledore. He made her a proper cup of tea just the way she liked, milk no sugar. "Severus?" He placed a second cup of tea at the younger man's elbow.

"Now, there's something very important that I'd like to discuss with the pair of you. Severus, if you'll just have a seat this really won't take very long." Snape looked to at the old man and then the vacant chair, and then the young Potter girl. The old man was already asking so much of him. Why should he be forced to sit down as well? Still It would take some time to explain everything to her. Groaning internally, Severus sat down, deliberately ignoring his tea.

"As you are both very much aware, we _all_ find ourselves in the most dire of situations these days. But none of us has been in more danger than James, Lily and their unborn child. Until today." Dumbledore frowned. " Your brother and his wife disappeared from our world little more than a month ago. In that time Voldemort has only grown stronger, hungrier. His quest to find, and ultimately, end your family's lives has been stoked by their difficulty to be found. I'm sure by now he has guessed my involvement in trying to conceal them, however I'm certain he will not come after me. The same I'm afraid cannot be said for you, Elenora."

"Me?" The seventeen year old girl repeated. "But I've no idea where they are! They wouldn't make me Secret-Keeper in a million years! James wouldn't even tell me where any of the secret entrances out of school are!"

"I'm afraid you are in the same amount of danger whether you knew where they were or not." Dumbledore explained sympathetically. "Voldemort will assume that you, being Jame's only living relative, _will_ know where they are. And there is no changing his mind once he is certain of something." Dumbledore laced his hands together and rested his chin in his fingers. "Normally in a situation such as this, I would send you back to your dormitory and have you pack your things. Once that's done I'd arrange for your parents to pick you up and together would discuss the gravity of the situation."

"But my parents died of dragon pox." Nora recalled with a shiver. "So legal guardianship was transfer to my next of kin, my brother and his wife, who are of course in hiding. But I turned seventeen on Halloween. Legal I don't need a guardian."

"Correct." The Headmaster agreed. "And as such, you have to the legal right to refuse my suggestion that you go into protective hiding. It is my wish to protect you with a Fidelius Charm as soon as possible, but of course this decision is up to you.'"

"What does this have to do with Sniv...Sever...Snape here?" She asked jabbing a thumb in the direction of the Slytherin who'd remained quiet through the duration of the conversation.

"Severus, would you care to explain yourself?"

"Not particularly." The young man grumbled through a curtain of greasy black hair. "Should you choose to become protected by a Fidelius Charm, you would need a Secret Keeper. It is Dumbledore's wish that _I_ perform that role."

"Right." Nora nodded, feeling as if she was the only person in the room with her head on correctly. "Sorry, I don't mean this offensively, but aren't you part of Voldemort's outfit?" She looked over at Dumbledore. "What makes you think _he_ can be trusted?" Snape opened his mouth either to defend himself or curse the young girl out, she would never know as Dumbledore cut in.

"It's true that Severus has been a member of the Dark Lord's outfit as you say. But he has been doing so under my orders all along. I know that there is a fair amount of bad blood between he and your brother, but I had thought you will not be so...single minded as to judge a man before he has been given a chance to prove his worth."

"Look it's really nothing personal." Nora told Snape, who almost looked as if he agreed with her. "But why him specifically?" She asked. "Why not someone I'm familiar with, someone I know I trust. Remus Lupin or Sirius Black or Pete Pettigrew."

"All would be obvious choices." Dumbledore agreed. "And for that reason alone they cannot be chosen. Severus is neither close to yourself, or James. He has also been publically dismissed by Lily and for that reason that makes him the safest person to keep your secret."

"I don't trust him." She insisted.

"Then trust me." Dumbledore asked with his serene blue eyes looking at her through his half-moon glasses.


	3. Two

In the end, Elenora decided to put her trust in Dumbledore and by proxy, into Severus Snape. That night she packed all her things in her Hogwarts trunk and disappeared from the school under the cover of night. Severus was kind enough to set her up in an expansive mansion that had once belonged to his mother's family.

"I've had to send all the house elves away, so you'll be alone here." He apologized as they entered the home late that evening. "I'm sure you would much rather be at your own home." He frowned.

"I think I'd rather be locked up somewhere new. No old memories to haunt me." She sighed.

"I've prepared a room for you in the East Wing." Severus explained awkwardly. "I've stocked the pantries with every type of food imaginable. And upstairs there is a fully stocked library with nearly every subject and degree of study. You are welcome to peruse them. In fact nothing is off limits to your during your stay here. Think of this as your home."

"Thanks." She answered him in a prickly tone. He could tell she still didn't trust him. "Anything else I need to know before you leave me to my boring demise?" She added sarcastically.

" I'm sure it goes without saying that you must remain within the walls of the mansion, but I'll be able to come and go as I please."

"Don't remind me..."

"I meant only to suggest that should you need anything..."

"I'll keep that in mind." She nodded.

"Very well. I shall leave you to it then." He replied stiffly. It's not like he _asked_ for this task. The wizard turned to the fireplace, aiming to leave, but she called out to him.

"Snape!" He turned back to her. This would be his life now, succumbing to the whims of a girl who barely realized what the war was about. In school he remembered Nora being the brighter of the two Potters but since she was younger, people tended to underestimate her. Severus reminded himself that he shouldn't fall into the same trap.

"Thank you for doing this." She said quietly. "I know this can't be easy for you. I mean Secret Keeper is a dangerous job, and your putting yourself at risk for someone you barely know. Listen, James can be a pratt and his friends aren't exactly the best influence, but I'm not so easily persuaded. I might not trust you as much as I ought to. But I do trust Dumbledore and if he says that you'll keep me safe, then I believe that."

"Expect me for a visit in two weeks time." Was his only reply before stepping into the fireplace and disappearing into the floo-network.

True to his word, Severus returned in two weeks time. He was relieved to find everything, including Elenora Potter, more or less as it had been two weeks ago. The girl had unpacked her few belongings and so traces of her were scattered here or there around the house. Her broom was tucked in the hall closet exactly where he had hidden it, which meant she either hadn't found it yet or hadn't made any attempts to leave. Potter herself was seated on a cushion in the library bent over a spell book. Several books were scattered around her on the floor. Each varying in subject and length. Severus watched her from the doorway as she scanned the page. When she hadn't looked up, he cleared his throat loudly. Nora jumped causing the book in her lap to flop to the floor, losing her place in the text.

"Oh Snape it's you." She breathed once she spotted him. "Well of course it you. It's just...well the house does creak sometimes. Odd noises at all hours of the day." She explained. "I'm still getting used to it."

"What were you reading?" Severus questioned stiffly. There was no sense in making the girl more uncomfortable than she already was. He might as well attempt small talk. Nora looked back down at the book sheepishly before plucking it off the floor and handing it too him. " _Flesh-Eating Trees of the World?"_ He handed the book back to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I thought I'd take you up on that offer of helping myself to the library. I got to thinking about how I probably won't be able to take my N.E.W.T.S. next year. I might not ever get to go back to school." She explained worriedly. "So I thought I ought to keep up with studies. It's silly I know but..."

"You have to keep busy somehow." Severus said. He could understand how she must have felt. Locked up in a house alone with only her thoughts. It was enough to make even the strongest mind collapse. He handed the book back to her, a sudden idea coming to him. "Would you perhaps mind if I stayed for dinner?"

"Dinner?" Nora wasn't certain she'd heard him correctly. Surely this man had no intention of befriending her. He was simply assisting her in hiding, nothing more. Then again, maybe Dumbledore had put him up to it. It seemed exactly like something the old wizard would suggest. She could look selfish and spoiled in Snape's eyes if she refused. And Nora was determined to proved that she was much more than some young girl with no manners. "You're welcome to stay, it's your house after all, but if I'm being perfectly honest I'm a terrible cook." The corners of Severus' mouth pulled into a smirk.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I have some expertise on the subject. I could teach you some things, should you like to learn." He suggested.

"It's one more thing to keep my mind occupied." Nora mused. "Are there cooking books in here as well?"

"I'm certain there are. As I've told you before, there are books of every subject here."

As time continued on, Severus made visits to Elenora every two to three weeks. As promised he instructed her on the finer points of cooking. If he was feeling particularly generous that day, he would work with her on other subjects as well. The pair limited their conversations to either the tasks at hand or frivolous things such as weather. It was a nice distraction from the war that surged on in the world around them. But that's all it was, a distracted. James, Lily and the newborn son Harry were never far from Elenora's mind. She thought of James when she gazed at the collection of quidditch trophies that littered the shelves around the mansion. Were he there, her brother would have boasted about his own quidditch merits. Maybe even challenged his little sister to a quick game of pick up before dinner. She thought of Lily whenever she had trouble mastering a spell or incantation. Her sister-in-law was always an impeccable instructor. And little Harry...well Elenora knew little of him, being that he was a baby but she still thought of him. She thought of them all late at night before she closed her eyes. She thought of them and dreamed of the day when she would finally be reunited with her family.


	4. Three

"Happy Birthday to me." Elenora sighed, staring down the candles of a cake that she had baked and frosted herself. The tiny flames of the candles flickered as they quickly burned through their wicks. It was Halloween night, 1981 and it was her nineteenth birthday. Two years had passed since she'd gone in to hiding and during those years she learned a lot of things. Like how to bake a cake for example. She also learned small things about how the world worked.

Birthdays were a big deal in the Potter house growing up. Euphemia, James and Nora's mother would always cook the children their favorite breakfasts on their day. For James that meant a stack of chocolate chip pancakes high as a Centaur. For his sister a simple blueberry muffin and a glass of pumpkin juice would do. When their father, Fleamont, arrived home from work the family would consume heaping slices of cake. After dessert presents were opened. Elenora always looked forward to her birthdays as a child because for one whole day she was in charge. She got to decided which games she and her brother played. She got to choose which story their mother would read them before bed.

Because her birthday was in October, Nora spent her twelfth birthday at Hogwarts. It was the first birthday away from her parents. Barely two months into school she hadn't made any friends of her own yet, so there had been no one to celebrate her birthday with. No one except her older brother who was in his third year at Hogwarts. Seeing his sister sulking from further down the Gryffindor table, James enlisted the help of his best friend, Sirius Black. The pair snuck out of the Great Hall during breakfast that morning. Once out of the hall they crept into the Hogwarts kitchens which was of no surprise to the House Elves working there. The duo seemed to have a knack for discovering the hidden areas of the castle. The next thing Elenora knew, there was a warm blueberry muffin resting by her elbow with a note that read " _Happy Birthday El, don't look so glum! - James."_

When James' fourteenth birthday came around during March of the same school year, she begged Sirius and Remus Lupin to help repay the favor. James came down to breakfast to find a modest stack of chocolate chip pancakes plated at his usual spot at the end of the Gryffindor table. The tradition kept up through James' last year at Hogwarts and as the friends got older, celebrations of Sirius, Remus, Lily and their friend Peter's birthday had all been included in the ritual. Somewhere along the way the group had decided to make a game out of birthday breakfasts, trying to make each one more grandiose than the last.

Long gone were the large birthday celebrations of the past. Nothing had made that clearer than the candles that now dripped melted wax into the frosting of her lonely cake. She'd been staring off into the distance thinking of birthdays of the past and her inattentiveness had caused the nineteen candles to melt down to stubs. Nora had at least been hoping for a visit from Snape, it had been at more than two weeks since the last one, but as the moon shone high in the sky she resolved that he wouldn't be coming. Sighing again, she gave a half-hearted attempted at a wish before blowing out her candles.

"This doesn't look like a happy birthday." Nora looked up to see Severus standing there, the handle of an animal carrier ensnared in between his fingers.

"I was just thinking, well sulking really. Would you like a piece of cake?" She offered, already cutting him a slice.

"This won't go on forever." He seemed certain as he placed the animal carrier on the floor. "One side or the other will have to win eventually, and I really think it will be ours."

"What makes you so certain?" She plated two slices of cake and set one before him.

"The Dark Lord has lost many of his followers already. With the legalization of Unforgivable Curses, the Ministry's been able to get their hands on more Dark Magic sympathizers. I'm certain this war won't last much longer. This, however, looks questionable." He gestured to the slice of cake before him.

"It's just cake." She insisted, using the fork in her hand to scoop up a large bite of her piece. Severus section off a considerably smaller bite before putting it his mouth. To his relief it was it edible. The same could not be said for her first attempt at a cake the previous year. "Speaking of questionable..." She pointed her fork at the animal carrier on the floor.

"That, is your birthday present." He smirked before taking a second bite of cake.

"Birthday present? You got me a birthday present?" Her eyes shot up from the carrier to his face. Most of it was hidden behind that long greasy hair of his, but his piercing black eyes looked back at her intently.

"Don't look so...grateful." He rolled his eyes. "Just open it." Elenora put her fork down slowly. He'd never brought her a gift before. Not last year for her birthday or any other day since she'd been confined to his family mansion. Normally she'd suspect something like this to be a trick or trap, but over the years she'd grown to truly trust Severus, so she thought nothing of crouching down and loosing the mechanism that closed the carrier shut. Nearly the exact second the door of the carrier opened a cream colored blur pounced out. it was a cat.

"He appears to be part Tabby part Siamese." Severus explained over his shoulder before consuming another bite of cake. She scooped the cat up in her arms and studied him. The base coat of its fur was cream and he had brown stripes on his tale, paws and face.

"Well aren't you handsome." She mused. The cat just looked up at her with his electric blue eyes and meowed. Nora petted the cat as Snape explained how he'd come into her possession.

"I grew tired of your complaints of loneliness." He sneered. It was Nora's turn to roll her eyes.

"Can't you ever just do something nice?" She'd come to understand that Severus was afraid of showing kindness, as if it made him weaker. "Well, I'm not going to let your ruin this for me. I've always wanted a cat. And I know just the name for him. Severus Snape, meet Zeus!" She held the cat out to Severus in introduction.

"We've met." The wizard huffed. "Don't make me take you back to the shop." He added as the cat tentatively sniffed at his piece of cake. "I can't stay long tonight at any rate."

"But it's my birthday!" Nora whined childishly, putting Zeus back down on the floor. He groaned internally. She should have known by now that he detested her whining.

"Be that as it may," He put his fork down since only crumbs of cake remained. "today also happens to be the one day a year where our kind can mingle freely with the muggles. This year Dumbledore _insisted_ that I go out with his band of misfits to ensure the safety of both muggles and civilian witches and wizards. Thrilling."

"Will you come back soon for a proper visit then?"

"I can only promise that I'll try." He informed her stiffly. Severus stayed only long enough to instruct her on the proper care of Zeus. How often he should be fed, what sorts of things he should be allowed to eat and other such information before he bid the girl and her new animal good night.


	5. Four

"ELENORA! Nora!" Severus was shouting her name as he tore through the house. Nora, who'd been asleep in her bed, awoke with a start. She knew in that instant that the war was over. Running and shouting were not Snape's usual demeanor. He'd only participate in such behavior if something important had happened. Zeus, who'd been lazily lounging at the foot of her bed was greatly disturbed by either the shouting or her sudden stirring and so he pounced off the bed and disappeared underneath it. Quickly pulling a dressing robe on over her night clothes, she raced out of the bedroom and nearly bumped into Severus halfway down the hall. He looked pale, much more so than usual. His eyes were wide and glassy and there was sweat beading up around his forehead. He tried to catch his breath as she stood there studying him.

"It's Lily..." He managed to get out. " Lily and... They've been..."

"Lily and James?" Her hands flung to her chest immediately. It suddenly felt very tight, like an rubber band being stretched to its limits. "Severus what's happened?" She futility massaged the area of over her heart. "Are James and Lily alright?"

"No." He gulped. "They've been...been murdered."

"Mur..." Nora couldn't bring herself to say the word. She crumpled to the floor and began to weep. She had lost them. They'd promised her that they would be safe. _Dumbledore_ had promised her that they would be safe. Severus stood there watching the woman two years his junior as her world crashed and burned. He didn't know how to help her. Truth be told, he didn't know how to help himself. It took a great deal of strength to not decay right there on the floor next to her.

"It's over." He managed to get out. "The Dark Lord is gone. He's been defeated." He tried his best to bring light the positives of the situation. She seemed to care little for this information. " Your nephew lives." That got her attention.

"Harry?" She choked out. Wiping away tears that were still violently cascading down her cheeks, she looked up at him. "Harry's alive? How can that be?"

"The exact details are not yet clear. I offer you my deepest condolences, Nora, but I'm afraid we haven't much time to grieve. I'm to take you directly to Dumbledore." He offered a hand out to her, which she grasped with a shaking hand of her own.

They appeared in a the fireplace of Dumbledore's office shortly after. He'd been expecting them, having been the one who sent Severus off in the first place. The pair stumbled into the office, both looking worse for wear. Severus was still pale, but Elenora was looking flushed. Her cheeks were stained pink and her eyes had gone red and puffy.

"Thank you for coming along so quickly." The old man acknowledged them. Severus helped his younger companion into a chair before sitting in the vacant one next to her. "The loss, of James and Lily Potter comes as a great shock to all of us." Dumbledore began as he strode over to his desk. Now seated like the others he attempted a sympathetic frown. "Perhaps the most shocking of all, are the three of us in this very room. I'm afraid to say the Potters put their trust in the wrong person and this person committed an act more damaging than an Unforgivable Curse. Betrayal is a wound that ripples like rings on a pond. Something seemingly small and insignificant works its way outwards and the water never sits the same way again."

Elenora crossed her arms. She didn't want to hear Dumbledore's mystic explanations about how grieving was part of the healing process or how in time she'd come to live with the loss. She'd heard all these speeches following the deaths of her parents. That had been years ago and the pain was still as real as it had been when she first heard the news. James and Lily would be the same because death was final. Death was forever. Nothing could bring them back.

"There is a light of hope in this our darkest of times." The Headmaster said, pulling her from her thoughts. "Voldemort is gone. He had been defeated, apparently by your nephew."

"Harry? But he' just a baby!" Nora snorted. "You mean to tell me the darkest wizard of all time was defeated by an infant?"

"The exact details of the event remain unclear to me as of now. However I'm sure there is an extraordinary explanation." Dumbledore said. "Whatever the reasons, I'm afraid you have some very difficult decisions ahead of you, Elenora and they must be made right now."

"Decisions? You've just told me that my brother, the only family I had left in the entire world, and his wife were...are d...gone and you expect me to make a series of difficult decisions?"

"Ah, but he's not the only family you have left..."

"I don't know the first thing about taking care of a baby!" She exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I've had a cat for less than twelve hours and I'm not even sure where it's gone off to and you expect me to raise a baby? My brother's baby? My _dead_ brother's baby. Who is possibly some sort of Dark Wizard killing protégé? I can't..."

"I'm sorry to hear that you feel this way." The old wizard frowned. "There are alternative options of course..."

"You mean like orphaning him or something? James would curse me for eternity, Lily too for that matter. No he ought to stay with family."

"Perhaps there is a compromise to be had." Dumbledore suggested. He laced his fingers together and looked back at her pensively. "When Harry may be your only living blood, you are not his. Lily also had a sister..."

"Surely you're not talking of Petunia?" Severus, who'd remained quite throughout the previous exchange was now adamantly engaged. "That magic hating..."

"Severus, that was many years ago. She and her husband have a son of their own now. He's around Harry's age I believe. She might be willing to take him in. Then the two boys could grow up together."

"But James always said the worst things about that woman." Nora argued. "And she's not magical."

"Would that be so bad?" The Headmaster asked. "If Harry were to grow up on our world, everyone would know his name. The boy would had no privacy. Perhaps growing up in the muggle world might be a good thing for him. He could have a chance a real childhood."

"Ten years from now, my nephew with be Hogwarts age. I assume he'll be accepted to attend." Dumbeldore nodded as if to say _Of Course._ "Then this is what I suggest, Harry will live with muggle relatives until his eleventh birthday. He'll have no knowledge of me or the magical world until then, but at that time, I get to see him. I meet with him. If he is happy and doing well with Petunia Dursley, then he'll return to live with her following his first year at school. But if, when I see Harry for the first time in ten years, he seems even the slightest bit unhappy, then he'll become my responsibility."

"I think this is a fair arrangement." Dumbledore agreed at once. "I'm certain I can get Petunia to agree. You'll find I can be most persuasive."

"One more thing, I want to meet him first. I've never actually seen him, or held him..."

"I don't think that's too much to ask of me. I've made arrangements with Rubeus Hagrid to have the boy brought here until we decided what to do with him. They should be arriving back any moment. In the meantime there is one other matter I'd like to discuss with you both. If you wouldn't mind taking a seat again, Miss Potter." She did so slowly.

"I would like to make an offer of employment to both of you. Professor Slughorn has showed an interest in retiring, and now that our war is done, I feel confident releasing my dear friend of his teaching responsibilities. The matter is, I've no one to fill the post. Severus, you earned a potions mastery shortly after your graduation of Hogwarts isn't that correct?"

"Yes." The damned old man knew very well that he'd achieved as much, he was one of the co-signers on the completion certificate.

"And Elenora, you received an outstanding on your Potions O.W.L.s, didn't you?"

"Yes, Professor but..."

"Oh let us not stand on ceremony here, I am no longer your professor, Elenora, please, just Albus will do."

"Albus," She forced the word out. It felt foreign hearing his first name in her voice. "I never achieved any N.E.W.T.s. If you remember correctly I left Hogwarts during my sixth year."

"Yes of course. But I have it on good authority that you've been keeping up with your studies during your time away and that you have full intention of taking your N.E.W.T.s as soon as possible."

"Well yes I did, but that was in hopes of finding a job."

"That's precisely what I'm offering you." Dumbledore smiled. "I'm offering it to both of you of course. Horace Slughorn has been a valued member of the Hogwarts staff since his first term with us many years ago and the thought of replacing him with anyone seems out of the question. But I had hoped, should you both choose to accept my offer, that perhaps the pair of you could do our old Potion Master justice."

"Dumbeldore I hardly think we're qualified to..."

"Now, now Severus. You have two have a pair of the most studious minds I've seen in my years at Hogwarts, both as student and Professor. Even in your weakest subjects you have proven capable of rising above..."

"But potions _is_ my weakest subject!" Nora countered.

"And yet you still managed to achieve the highest O.W.L. score possible. You shouldn't downplay your successes Elenora, the rest of the world will do that for you. I am confident that if you were to sit in on a N.E.W.T.s examination as early as tomorrow, you would once again achieve top marks. You could then pursue a Potions Mastery of the tutelage of Severus and together the pair of you could teach whole new generation of Hogwarts Students. There would be worse ways to spend the next ten years. I shall leave you to discuss this among yourselves for a moment. Keep in mind the offer is for both of you, you must both accept or decline together. I shall return momentary, Minerva has asked me to assist her with a lesson this period."

"Thoughts?" Nora asked Severus as Dumbledore slipped out of his office.

"There could indeed be worse ways to spend the next ten years." Severus echoed the statement. "Being a professor really wouldn't be all that bad." He mused.

"But what if I fail my N.E.W.T.s?"

"Have you ever failed anything before?"

"Well no but..."

"Then why consider it a possibility now? Listen, Dumbeldore said he wouldn't give the job to just one of us. So if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me. As a favor. You owe me." The truth of the matter was, Snape was right. She did owe him. At any point during the last two years he could have easily turned her over to any number of Death Eaters, and from what she'd heard, he knew a fair amount of them. But he'd kept her safe, protected her. And he'd done a far better job than even her brother's closest friends had. She owed him far more than a job, she owed him her life.

"Alright." She nodded. "We'll take the job then. I'll have a lot of things to take care of before then. There's seeing Harry off and passing my N.E.W.T.s, but I'll have to find a place to live and prepare a...funeral for James and Lily."

"I...I could help you with those things." He suggested.

"Why, would you want...I've already asked so much of you. I couldn't possibly..."

"Lily was my best friend." He confessed. "We stopped talking because I'd done something careless. And I've regretted it every day since. Please, let me help. And you don't need to find a place to stay. We'll only be away from the school three months out of the year. You could stay...with me."

"At your mother's house? Thanks but no..."

"No, my childhood home. That's where I live now. If we're going to be co-professors our relationship my benefit from a deeper understanding of each other."

"I suppose it'd be nice to live with someone after being alone for some long. Alright, you've got yourself a partner." She extended her hand out and the two shook on their deal.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to BlueRaider1993 and Mishi Gohiku for this story's first reviews! I'm glad as always to heard that my story had been so well received already! These past few chapters have basically been an introduction to Elenora, the next chapter will jump ahead to Harry's eleventh birthday. Thank you so much to everyone who had already read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story, I seriously appreciated it! New chapters to come ASAP**


	6. Five

"Nora your wretched cat is in my room again!" Severus bellowed across the hall to his roommate. He'd been trying to pack for their return to Hogwarts when Zeus had appeared and shed cream colored hairs everywhere. Elenora poked her head out of her bedroom, laughing.

"Maybe if you didn't wear only black, you wouldn't care about the cat hair all over your clothes. Besides," She said stepping out of her room and in to his, "I thought you'd already packed. The term starts tomorrow."

"I'm well aware of when the start of term is," He hissed at her. "This is not my first year teaching if you recall." In fact it was his and Nora's tenth year of Co-Professoring. They had proven themselves to be quite the team. They worked like two gears of the same clock, always on the same frequency. The pair had hardly quarreled, except over small things such as the whereabouts of Zeus the cat. "Don't think you have me fooled, I know that you've put off your own packing till the last minute. Your worried about your important meeting today."

"So what if I am?" She asked before leaning dramatically against the doorframe. He noted she had still not claimed the stripped feline from atop his favorite sent of robes. "What if he doesn't understand why I had to leave him with them? What if they were awful to him and he's angry at me for having him endure such terrible treatment?"

"What if he's happy?" He said seriously. "You have to prepare yourself for the possibility that these Muggles may have raised a spoiled child. Either way, you won't find out by bombarding me with questions. You should get yourself to Diagon Alley, who knows what sort of nonsense Hagrid will get up to if you're late."

"Well, I guess I'll see you at school." She said before disapparating.

"What about your bloody cat!" He called over his shoulder, even though she was already gone.

Diagon Alley was busy bustling with families here and there doing their last minute school shopping before their next year at Hogwarts began. Elenora apparated by the entrance of Gringott's, the wizard bank, and began searching the street for Rubeus Hagrid the half-giant. Hagrid wasn't difficult to find, being nearly twelve feet tall, he towered over most of the witches and wizards hustling and bustling through Diagon Alley.

"HAGRID!" She called out, spotting the man standing outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. The eleven year old boy standing beside him made her stop in her tracks. Harry Potter was a dead ringer for his father and if Nora hadn't known any better she would have been certain it _was_ James standing there in the middle of the wizard shopping district. There wasn't even a hint of the woman who had once been Lily Evans. Severus would be disapointed.

"Oh, there ya' are Elenora!" Hagrid said in him booming voice as he waved her over. "I was beginning to worry ya'd fergotten about us."

"I'd never forget about today." She promised after making her way through the sea of people. "I've been waiting ten years for it."

"Well, I s'pose I oughtta introduce ya'. Harry, 'like you ter meet Elenora Potter. Miss Potter, Harry."

"Hello Harry." She said quietly. A lump built up in her throat as the boy looked up at her. _There she is._ It may have been a young James Potter's face staring up at her, but he was looking with Lily's eyes.

"Your surname's Potter?" _That can't be a coincidence._ The boy thought. Now that he thought of it, Elenora looked a lot like the photo of his dad that Hagrid had given him earlier. She had the same messy black hair, and the same hazel eyes, she even smiled a bit like him.

"Yes, it is." She nodded. "You don't me Harry, but I know you. Of course, I'm sure you've already heard that a lot today. And you'll probably hear it a lot more. But I'm getting off track. Your Dad, James, was my older brother."

"He had a sister? That would make you my..."

"Your aunt. yes."

"Well, I ah, I think it best I leave you two ta get better acquainted. I'll meet ya back 'ere in say thirty minutes time?"

"That should be plenty of time Hagrid, thank you so much for doing this." Nora smiled.

"Wasn't no problem." Hagrid blushed. "Had to come out this way fer me garden anyhow, I'll be back in a half-hour Harry, don' look so worried. Yer Aunt Elenora ain't nothing like those muggles ya live with."

"Let's get some ice cream, Harry." His new Aunt Elenora invited. They got in line together and while Harry studied the menu, she studied her nephew. Now that he wasn't standing next to the towering Hagrid, she realized he was smaller than the averaged eleven year old boy. Of course that could be an optical illusion considering his clothes were at least two sizes too big for him. But the hand shaped bruise on his arm that stuck out just under his shirt sleeve couldn't have been an illusion.

"Can I choose any flavor I want?" He questioned shyly, looking away from the menu. Harry didn't dare hope that she'd say yes. Ice cream was a big treat in itself, he was certain she'd have him settle for plain vanilla single scoop as Uncle Vernon always did.

"Of course." She laughed before realizing the boy was not joking. "Harry you can order whatever flavor you want and as many toppings as you like." His eyes widened as if he had never imagined this outcome.

"Can I have an extra minute to decided then?" He seemed worried to asked this.

"Sure." She agreed. "I'll order first then." Elenora ordered herself a butterbeer soft serve and then the large Sunday with chocolate-raspberry ice cream, chocolate sauce and chopped nuts that Harry asked for. Once their orders were complete they carried them off to a table and started eating. They enjoyed their ice cream in silence as each of them tried to begin a conversation. After several minutes, Harry put his spoon down, a sizable amount of ice creams still left in front of him.

"How come my aunt and uncle never told me I had another aunt?"

"Well," Nora put her spoon down also. "I'm afraid I'm partially to blame for that. How much did your aunt and uncle tell you about your parents?"

"They told me that they died in a car crash." He said. "But Hagrid said that's not true. He said they were killed by a bad wizard and that's why I had to live with my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon."

"I'm afraid Hagrid was telling the truth Harry. Your parents were murdered by the darkest wizard in the last hundred years. He killed a lot of people, not just your mum and dad." Harry had of course already heard this from Hagrid, but he could tell it was difficult for his aunt to talk about so he did not interrupt. "The night your parents died something happened that no one can really explain. Voldemort was defeated but you, just one year old, survived. It was like a miracle that despite the tragedy a small innocent baby had lived. I was eighteen at the time. I didn't know the first thing about taking care of a baby. But your Aunt Petunia is lily's older sister. Her son Dudley is a month or so older than you. She and her husband had experience with children. And they were Muggles, non-magical. I believed at the time that it might be better for you to grow up away from magic. I thought It would give you a chance to be a normal kid." Harry opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but instead he reached for his spoon and took another bit of ice cream.

"When it had been agreed that you would live with your muggle relatives, I put a few conditions into place. One of them was that you would not know about me or the wizarding world until your eleventh birthday. So your...Petunia and Vernon weren't really allowed to tell you that you had another aunt. And I'm sorry about that. I can see now that keeping that information from you has not done you any favors. May I ask you a question of my own Harry?" He looked up from his ice cream worriedly.

"That bruise on your arm, the one shaped like a handprint, how did you get it?" Harry looked down at his arm to see the purpleish yellow bruise poking out from under his oversized sleeve. Out of habit he quickly tugged at the sleeve to cover his skin.

"I was...rough housing, with my cousin." He lied. He had lied so many times about his scars and bruises that he could make them sound almost convincing. His teachers in school would often ask about the marks on his body and he would lie to them, just as he lied to his aunt now. Harry's school teachers had believed him partly because they had wanted to and partly because they didn't believe a boy as sweet as him could have lied about anything. What Harry hadn't realized though, was that through his childhood the young James Potter had gone through a bit of a little-white-lying phase.

"Rough housing with your cousin?" Elenora repeated. "Mind if I have a look?" She rolled up the sleeve of Harry's shirt to see the extent of the damage. The bruise had very clearly been made by an adult. She released the sleeve and smiled weakly. "Harry, the other condition I put into place when I agreed to leave you in the care of Petunia and her whale of a husband, was that you and I would meet on your eleventh birthday. Which if I'm correct, is today?" He nodded, having just taken another bite of ice cream. "I told Dumbledore, he's Headmaster at Hogwarts, you'll meet him tomorrow; anyway I told him ten years ago that when you and I met today, if you seemed even the slightest bit unhappy that I would take responsibility for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't ready to take care of you when you were a baby, Harry, but I've grown up in the past ten years and I'm willing to become your legal guardian, that is if you want me to. But you have to be honest with me. If Petunia or Vernon has mistreated you I need you to be honest with me about it."

"You mean, that if I tell you the truth I won't have to go back to living with them?" Again he tried to suppress the hope welling up in his heart. It couldn't truly be that easy. "How could I know that this isn't a trick?"

"Either way, you're to return with Hagrid tonight, and he will escort you to the Hogwarts Express tomorrow morning so you won't have to see your aunt and uncle before school starts. I'm afraid the same cannot be said about me. I _will_ be at Hogwarts as I am one of the Potions Masters privileged to teach there. I really would like your answer as soon as possible so that the proper legal arrangements can be made, but I think I can give you the night to think about it. You can discuss it with Hagrid if you think that will help, he seems to have taken quite a liking to you."

"Just the people I've been looking fer!" Hagrid's voice carried over to them as he neared the ice cream shop again. "Did you er, have 'nuff time to talk?" He asked Elenora.

"I think so." She smiled. "Harry, I leave you once again in the capable hands of Mr. Hagrid. I'll see you tomorrow after the feast." She held her arms out awkwardly, hoping for a hug but not sure what the outcome would be. Without hesitation the boy wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Thank you." He whispered.


	7. Six

After a quick stop at home, Nora was at Hogwarts moving into the living quarters she shared with Severus. He was there already and had been unpacked for quite some time. With a lazy flick of her wand, Her trunk was opened and began magically unpacking its self. Seconds later Zeus had been released from his cage and perched himself on the sofa next to his favorite male companion.

"Are you going to keep me in suspense the whole evening or will you tell me how your meeting went?"Severus said before sneaking a pat on the cat's head. "I'm at the edge of my seat." He added dryly.

"Oh Sev, he's the sweetest boy I've ever met. He was kind and...you have no idea how badly I wanted to take that boy home with me today."

"That's called kidnapping." Severus warned sarcastically.

"You don't understand." Nora's hand reflexively touched her right arm where Harry's bruise had been. "He had this bruise, disgusting purple and yellow it was shaped like a hand..."

"HE HAD WHAT?" Severus roared, jumping to his feet."And you allowed the boy return to those wretched..."

"I didn't let him go back to them, if that's what you're about to suggest! He's staying with Hagrid for the night and then he'll be on the train ride here. What kind of a moron do you take me for?"

"We should speak with Dumbledore at once, he can't be allowed to stay with those vial..." In a swirl of Black robes Severus stormed out of their living quarters and into the Dungeons' hallway.

"Hold your hippogriffs!" She stormed after him. "I told Harry that he had a choice."

"Why?" He rounded on her. "Why would you leave such an important decision up to an _eleven year old boy_!"

"Because he has to want me too." She breathed. "I can't just pull him out of his life, what if he has friends or something that he's close with? There may be good things about his muggle life too. So we'll wait until after the Welcome Feast for his choice."

The Great Hall was decorated in its usual splendor as the Professors and older students began filing in. Severus and Elenora took their usual seats at the Slytherin end of the staff table. Once everyone had been seated either at their house table or the staff one, Minerva McGonagall began the sorting ceremony of the first years. Nora was surprised by how many first year student names she recognized. Susan Bones, niece of Amelia Bones, was sorted into Hufflepuff. The children of Death Eaters Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy were each, in turn, sorted into Slytherin and a Neville Longbottom, son of Alice and Frank Longbottom, was sorted into Gryffindor.

At long last it was Harry's turn to be sorted. The room silenced as the famous young wizard sat on the stool next to Professor McGonagall. He was mumbling something, possibly arguing with the sorting hat. The back and forth exchange went on for almost four minutes, which meant Harry could be considered a near-hatstall. Everyone was waiting with baited breath for the Sorting Hat to bellow its final decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!" It yelled out at last. The Great Hall burst into cheers, the loudest of which came from the Gryffindor table itself.

"You must be pleased." Severus sneered, whispering quietly into his friend's ear.

"That's my boy." She smiled. The sorting ceremony concluded with the addition of another Weasley at Hogwarts, Molly and Arthur's youngest son, Ronald. As McGonagall took the sorting hat away Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Welcome!" The Headmaster beamed down at his students, his arms open wide. "Welcome to a New year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! BLubber! Oddment! Teak! Thank you."

He sat back down and everyone clapped. Then the feast began. As everyone started portioning out food on to their plates, Nora stole a glance at the Gryffindor table. Harry was sitting next to Ronald Weasley and the pair were talking to the house ghost, Nearly-Headless Nick. Once Nick floated off further down the table. Harry and Ron started talking to the other Gryffindor students around them.

"He's already making friends." She grinned, elbowing Severus as the desserts appeared.

"Yes, very good for him." He grumbled before returning to his conversation with Quirinus Quirrell, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered," Professor Dumbledore addressed the Great Hall again as desserts were being polished off. "First years should not that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember it as well. I have been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be bused between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death. Off to bed now." Students began filing out of the Great Hall.

"C'mon Harry!" Ron waved his new friend on.

"I, um...I think I'm suppose to wait for my Aunt..."

"No need to wait." Elenora said, walking towards the two children. "I don't want to keep you boys long since you're not meant to be out of the Gryffindor tower past curfew. I just need to know if you made a decision, Harry."

"I have." He told her confidently. "I'd like, that is, er if it's all right with you...I really do not want go back to live with my Aunt and Uncle."

"Then you won't have to. I'll take care of everything." She promised. "You'd both better hurry to catch up with Percy, you don't want to be caught out of bounds."

"Right, C'mon Harry. " Ron tugged at his new friend's robes. As she watched them join the swarm of other students leaving the Great Hall, she heard Severus sneak up behind her.

"And?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"He's giving me a chance." She smiled.

"Congratulations. It's a boy." Severus commented sarcastically.

"And what has our young Mr. Potter decided?" Dumbledore asked his pair of Potions Masters. "Forgive me, but Hagrid told me of the boy's predicament and I wish only to know of the outcome." The Great Hall was still filled with students and staff members so neither Nora or Severus could shout at the Headmaster as they'd like. That didn't stop the later from growling through his teeth.

"Did you know how he was being treated?"

"I can assure you, my boy, that had I been fully aware of the situation I would not have allowed him to remain in Petunia and Vernon's care. Am I correct in assuming he will become your responsibility following the end of term, Elenora?"

"Yes." She nodded. "And I'll take care of him. We can move into back my parent's house. I'll get him clothes that fit and I'll finally learn how to properly cook..." Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her.

"You do not need to convince me. If you remember it was I who thought you ought to take him in the first place." The headmaster reminded. There was a knowing twinkle in his eye. "This morning I took the liberty of having some paperwork drawn up, just in case this outcome should arise. You'll forgive me, I'm sure if it is over stepping my boundaries, but they have already been signed and notarized by Petunia Dursley and Ministry of Magic officials. All it needs, is your signature." With a flourish of his hand Dumbledore removed a bundle of parchment from his robes and handed them to Nora.

"I'll read them over tonight and have them owled to the Ministry first thing in the morning." She promised before tucking the papers in her own robes.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to misswitlock16 and Harlan Malkavian for your reviews of Chapter 5! I'm so glad to hear that people are enjoying this story! The idea sort of just came to me, and now I've gotten myself involved in such a unique way of looking at Harry Potter's story! Thank you to everyone who has so far enjoyed the story of Elenora Potter. Please continue to read, review, favorite and follow her journey!**


	8. Seven

The following morning Nora was bent over the paperwork in the office that she shared with Severus. He was a bustling, billowing, swirl of black robes as he tried to gather together and organize the Time Tables for his Slytherin students.

"Why do you even bother with that?" She asked, looking over at him from her desk. "You know half your snakes will lose them immediately after breakfast and just blindly follow their friends from class to class. The other half will look at it once before stuffing it in the bottom of their bag. Then they _always_ come in here asking what their next lesson is. You could save so much parchment if you just didn't pass them out in the first place."

"It's thinking like that, that is the reason why you'll never be a Head of House." He sneered, combining his stacks of schedules.

"That and the fact that Minerva McGonagall will never retire." She stretched her arms high above her head and let her hands rest behind her neck. "Sides, that Head of House thing seems like an awful lot of work and I have a nephew to take care of now."

"Lazy and arrogant, the Potter lifestyle in its prime." Severus gathered his things and started out the door. "Are you going to sign that bloody form and come to breakfast or are you going to stare at it all morning?"

"I need a few more minutes." She said, no longer leaning back in her chair. "Tell Albus that I'll likely miss breakfast."

"Just sign them." He ordered before leaving her alone in the office. She re-read the forms for what felt like the hundredth time before looking for a quill on her messy desk. She scribbled out her full name, _Elenora Euphemia Potter,_ in the blank space under Petunia Dursley; before sealing the papers and heading off towards the owlery.

 _And it's official_. She thought as she made her way back down through the castle. _I'm sorry it took so long._ She mentally apologized to James and Lily even though they couldn't hear her. Now at least, she told herself, she had a chance to make it up to them. She was going to take care of Harry like he was her own son, better if she could.

"Professor Potter!" She was pulled from her own thoughts as Fred and George Weasley called out to her from the bottom of the Great Staircase.

"We've just got our time tables!" George said. The pair ran up the stairs towards her.

"Something's wrong with them!" Fred insisted, waving his schedule as he bounded upwards.

"I'm sorry boys," She frowned "but you know scheduling issues should be discussed with your Head of House."

"But we've not go the wrong class." Fred explained, handing her his sheet of parchment.

"Right, just the wrong Professor." George added.

"Ah." Now she understood what this was about. She handed Fred's schedule back without even looking at it. "This is because Professor Snape will be teaching third years this term."

"You _always_ teach firsts, thirds, and fifths!" George complained.

"But that was before my nephew was at school." She reminded them. "It's against school policy for me to teaching him, and as he's a first year, some things had to be move around. I'm sorry."

"So you'll be teaching us next years as fourths?" Fred asked excitedly.

"That won't work!" George answered for him. "Ron and Harry will be seconds by then."

"So we'll never have you again?" his brother frowned.

"Never say never." The Potions professor advised cryptically before strolling down the stairs. The start of term that year was a Wednesday, which was a slow day for Potions lessons. The only lesson Elenora had to teach was the second year Gryffindors and Slytherins. She'd really love to know which of the Headmasters all those years ago decided that most lessons ought to be shared by those two houses. People assumed that there was such bad blood between the students because their house's conflicting ideologies, but between teaching, her time working together with Sev, and being a Gryffindor herself, Nora had come to understand that her house and Slytherins so often clashed because of their similarities. Both were prideful, passionate and could be easy to agitated. It was a volatile mix that had lead to more classroom interruptions than she had cared to count over the years.

"Are you prepared for your lesson today?" Severus questioned when she stepped into their office.

"It's second years." She shrugged. Digging through her cluttered desk on a search for lessons plans. "I could have them boil water for an hour and they'd think it was veritaserum." She laughed, unearthing a stack of papers, sending rolls of parchment everywhere.

"As entertaining, as I think that might be, Dumbledore does pay us to educate his students." He said plucking up the rolls of parchment that had tumbled by his feet. "What are you looking for any how?"

"My lesson plans!" She told him in exasperation. "I can't find them anywhere."

"Perhaps you should clean that desk of yours." He suggested. "You have assignments on there from 85'. I know, I've looked."

"And what were you doing poking around my desk!"

"Looking for _my_ lesson plans." He sneered. "How do you find anything on there?"

"I've been teaching the same lessons for ten years." Was her unhelpful response. She continued her search as he replaced the scrolls on the desk. "I usually have system..."

"Tossing the newest things on top doesn't exactly count as having a system." He commented dryly. Rolling his eyes she reached towards the nearest pile. "Let me help..."

"No! No!" She exclaimed too late. As he pulled a stack of papers off the desk; scrolls, parchments, potion ingredients and other objects flew everywhere. In the chaos, he'd also accidentally upset a photo frame that had been resting on near the edge of the desk. The glass shattered as the photo clanged down on the stone floor. Severus stared down at the photo, his arms bundled up with the stack of parchments he had just removed. Nora moved slowly, unburdening her own arms before moving towards the photo. She picked it up with tears welling up in her eyes.

It was an old photo, taken the summer before her sixth year at Hogwarts; at James and Lily's wedding. She was a few months short of seventeen, standing between her brother and his new wife. James was laughing at a joke one of his friends had just told. His head was thrown back with a genuine smile caught on film. Lily was smiling too. Her red hair was twisted up and curled in a beautiful, complicated hairstyle. She had an arm thrown over her sister-in-law's shoulder and they were whispering about something that Elenora had long ago forgotten. It was the last picture of the three of them together and it had sat in the same spot on her desk for the last ten years.

"Broken." She managed to choke out. Holding back tears. "Just like us."

"We can repair it." Severus insisted. He tossed aside the stack in his arms and reached for his wand.

"No." She remarked sadly. "No. They're gone. But he's not." She put the shattered frame back in its place. "He looks so much like them. The smile, his hair. It's all James. But the eyes. Lily's without question. I have to do right by them. I have to take care of him."

"There's no doubt in my mind that you will." He straightened up and offered a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet. She pulled her arms around his waist and cried. It was the first time he had seen her cry. Of course, she had cried before, it seemed impossible that she would go through what she had without shedding a few tears.

But even as her best friend for the past eleven years he had never witnessed her breaking down. Not since the morning she had learned of her brother's death anyhow. She had remained strong and defiant despite the challenges life had thrown her way. It pulled at his heartstrings to see her losing composer at such such a seemingly insignificant object. And then just as quickly as the tears had come, they stopped. She pulled herself away and dried her tears with the sleeves of her robes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't get so worked up. I'll look for my lesson plans later."

"There's no need. I think there's copies of the lesson plans in the filing cabinet." He remembered in a last ditch effort to be helpful. He opened a drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, his long fingers danced to the back of the drawer where he found a folder marked; **Second Year Potions – Term 1**.

"Thank you." She said, her eyes watering up again. "Sorry. Sorry." She wiped the tears away. "It's been an emotional few days."

"Indeed." Severus agreed.

"I've got to go prep the classroom for my lesson. Thanks again for finding these." She held the lesson plans and her copy of the required textbook to her chest. "I'll see you when we break for lunch, I won't weep again, I promise."

"Elenora," He sighed. "It's not a sin to show a little weakness sometimes."

"This coming from the man who's an emotional statue." She smiled before leaving him alone in the office.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you SoccerDiva for your review of Chapter 6! I'm glad to hear that you find the plot interesting and that you are looking forward to new chapters! Thank you so much to every one for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following this story!**


	9. Eight

"Harry!" Elenora called out to her nephew as he and Ron entered the Entrance Hall. The boy whipped his head around, trying to see who had called out to him. He spotted her standing near the entrance to the dungeons and headed over; Ron followed close behind. "You're on time to breakfast this morning!" She smiled, clearly impressed.

"First time we made it down here without getting lost." Harry told her proudly.

"And it's only the third day of the term. Well done. Ron's brothers didn't help you at all?"

"Have you met Fred and George?" The Weasley boy snorted.

"Well, I didn't call you over just to interrogate you, I promise." She removed an envelope from inside her robes. "It's good news, I promise." Harry took the envelope and opened it. There were a lot of words he didn't understand and it seemed to be a complicated contract. What he _did_ understand was the banner across the top that read **Guardianship Transfer Request** and that someone had stamped a red _**Approved**_ near the bottom.

"Does this mean..."

"It's official." She nodded. "I am your legal guardian." A wide smile immediately spread across Harry's face. He threw his arms around her.

"This is the best birthday present ever." He whispered, thinking that she could not hear. As they separated from their hug he looked down at the paper in his hands. "Can I...May I keep this?"

"Sure, those are copies. And they are all yours. You two are free to go to breakfast now if you like, I just wanted to share my good news."

"Brilliant!" Ron smiled. "Let's go, I'm starved." Harry rolled his eyes at his friend. It seemed that Ron was _always_ starving.

"Just one more thing." Harry said, suddenly looking embarrassed. "What should I...um..."

"Oh." His aunt could easily guess the problem. "Elenora can be a bit of a mouthful. Most people call me Nora or Ellen. So Either Aunt Ellen or Aunt Nora I suppose. Of course I'll understand if you don't want to call me aunt right away..."

"Well, I should get Ron breakfast, will I see you in Potions class today, Aunt Ellen?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid you won't." She frowned sympathetically. "Since you're my nephew, it's against school policy for me to teach you. You'll have Professor Snape instead. He's a good friend of mine and an excellent teacher. Go on now, enjoy your breakfast."

* * *

"Where are you going?" Severus growled. It was a Thursday afternoon two weeks into school when he found Nora on her way out of the castle.

"First years have their first flying lesson today." She said, fiddling with the buttons on her cloak. "So I thought, maybe I'd..."

"Sneak out on the grounds and spy on Rolanda's lesson? Elenora you know you can't."

"And why not?" She demanded.

"For one thing, it's against professional courtesy. The school's flying instructor does not come down to the dungeons and inspect your Potions lessons, does she?"

"But I want to see him. What if he's a brilliant flier like his father?"

"Even the most skilled broomriders fall off their first time." Severus told her impassively. "I'm certain you're not missing anything."

Nora opened her mouth to protest, but Rolanda Hooch burst through the main doors cradling Neville Longbottom. The pair hobbled up the Grand Staircase in the direction of the Hospital Wing, while Minerva McGonagall came swooping down.

"Oh Elenora, just the person I need. Come with me!" She ordered, storming out of castle. The younger professor shrugged before following her mentor outside. Once outside she could see what the problem was. Harry and the Malfoy boy were zooming through the sky on a pair of school brooms. Harry's broom was pitched downward and one of his hands were outstretched like he was trying to catch something. A foot from the ground he caught one whatever it was he was chasing before leveling off his broom.

"HARRY POTTER!" McGonagall shrieked.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" His aunt called out at the same time. Together the pair of women ran towards the circle of students Madame Hooch had left behind All the while McGonagall was making exclamations.

" _Never_ in all my time at Hogwarts! How _dare_ you! Might have broken your neck!" All at once students rushed to defend Harry.

"It wasn't his fault, Professors!"

"He was just sticking up for Neville..."

"Everyone settle down, settle down." Professor Potter ordered. "Listen, I want all of you to return to you castle. Malfoy, You're to go directly to Professor Snape, he should be somewhere near the Entrance Hall. And I'll be checking with him to be sure you showed up." She warned. All at once students dropped their brooms, collected their school bags and scattered. "Hang on there you..." She said, catching her nephew by the neck of his robes. She spun him by the shoulders so that he was facing her. She looked him in the eyes. "That was incredibly dangerous! What were you thinking?"

"I-I'm sorry Aunt Ellen! But Malfoy took Neville's remembral and he wouldn't give it back I _had_ to..."

"You didn't have to do anything!" His aunt shook her head. "Hogwarts has professors for a reason. If someone is being picked on, you come to me, you come to Professor McGonagall, you go. to. a. Professor. You _do not_ take matters into your own hands. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Harry mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

"Very well. Minerva, he's all yours." She gave her colleague a short nod before striding back towards the castle. Harry had thought he was out of the woods when he saw his aunt stomping towards his class. However, once she went off on him he found himself feeling something he hadn't experienced in a long time; guilt. She hadn't yelled either which only made him feel worse. No one had ever cared enough about him to make him feel guilty before, but she did. It almost made getting in trouble worth it.

Storming into the castle, Elenora made her way back down to the dungeons. Draco Malfoy was coming out of her office by the time she reached it. He sent a glare in her direction before running down the hall.

"Perhaps I should have let you go out and spy on that lesson after all." Severus suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Sev, I don't even know what just happened. One minute he was flying on his broom, and then he was diving and they landed and all of a sudden I was my mother! I scolded him! I've never scolded someone before in my life! I can't even yell at my cat. What's wrong with me?"

"Congratulations," He grinned. "You're officially a parent."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much to FonzFan and Mrs. JaganshiReidofHufflepuff for your reviews of Chapter 7. It's always great to hear that this story is being enjoyed! Thank you as always to everyone who had read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far! More Chapters to come ASAP.**


	10. Nine

"Elenora, there's something I'd like to talk to you about." Minerva cornered her former student before dinner that evening.

"Whatever punishment you've given Harry, I'm fine with. I trust you to be reasonable, Minerva." Nora said with a smile. She continued walking up towards the staff table, Minerva followed after her.

"I'm not punishing him." The older witch stated, taking her by surprise. "I would like, with your permission, to put him on the Quidditch team."

"Quidditch? But he's too young. First years aren't allowed to play..."

"I've spoken with Albus, he's willing to lift the first year ban in your Nephew's case. All he asks is for your signature on these forms."

"But Minerva, there's a reason that we have a ban on first years! It's dangerous. He could get hurt..."

"And he could be the greatest Quidditch player in Gryffindor since his father."

"I want to say yes, believe me I do." Elenora said. "But I have a responsibility to that boy. If he gets hurts playing Quidditch I could never forgive myself. On the other hand, James would be so proud. He would sign that form in a heartbeat. What do I do?"

"Sign the form." Minerva advised. "He's an eleven year old boy, Ellen. He's bound to get hurt at some point. At least let him get a little glory out if it. He has true talent."

"Give me the forms." She decided at last. "When you give him the good news, Tell him that I'm looking forward to the first match."

* * *

The following morning Harry and Ron were sitting together at the Gryffindor table and the dark haired boy was looking rather forlorn. Mail call had just begun and while a hundred owls soared overhead none of them seemed to be delivering mail to him. Not that he had expected to actually get any mail, all of his friends were at Hogwarts along with the only living relative who actually cared about him. And yet he found himself thinking it would be nice to get a letter or two here and there. As mail call ended the owls began soaring back to the owlry. Only six owls remained and they were carrying a long thin package together as it glided over the Gryffindor table. Harry easily identified one of the birds as his own snowy owl, Hedwig. The six owls flapped their wings together before dropping the package in the middle of the breakfast table and flying out of sight. Harry heard the whispers from the students around the Great Hall as he looked down at the package excitedly.

"There's a note!" Ron said finding an attached envelope and handing it to his friend. Harry opened it eagerly.

 _Harry,  
I can't tell you how proud I am of you. Your father was an excellent Quidditch player and I have no doubt that you will be too. Enclosed is a Nimbus Two Thousand. It's the newest, fastest broomstick available. Think of it as a late birthday present. A small way to try and make up for all the missed birthdays. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor team Captain, will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. I'm looking forward to your first match.  
Love always,  
Aunt Ellen. _

"It's from my Aunt." Harry explained. "It's a broomstick."

"Well go on, open it!" Ron encouraged. Harry tore into the packaging excitedly. Though he didn't know much about brooms, he could guess that the Nimbus 2000 must have been expensive. It had arrived nicely polished with hand painted detailing. The broom itself seemed surprisingly lightweight.

"A Nimbus 2000?" Ron remarked with wide-eyes. "Those cost over 600 Galleons! You're aunt must really trust you to get you something so expensive."

"Yeah." He gulped. "I guess so."

Elenora watched the boys from her seat at the Staff table. They were both staring down at the new broomstick with stars in their eyes. She couldn't help but smiling as she watched her nephew handling his gift. After a minute or two, Harry handed the broom to Ron so that he could get a better look at it. While his friend was distracted he looked up and down the staff table before locking eyes with his aunt.

"Thank you!" He mouthed to her from across the Great Hall.

"Welcome." She mouthed back with a nod.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to Misswitlock16, bubzchoc, guest Meghan and Gilyflower for your reviews of Chapter 8! As always I'm so happy to hear that this story is being enjoyed by people out there. Things are starting to pick up for Harry and his Aunt Elenora as we near Halloween! So please continue reading, reviewing, favoriting, following and enjoying!**


	11. Ten

It was the night of the Halloween Feast. Nora was seated between Sprout and Severus moodily chasing food around her plate. It was her twenty-ninth birthday, but it was also the ten year anniversary of her brother's death. She never talked about it with anyone. How painful it was to have the person she was closest in the world to, die on her birthday. No one had ever asked before and it seemed like such a long time ago that they didn't bother asking now. But still it was painful as she danced her fork around a helping of pumpkin pie. Normally Severus would scold her and say that food was meant to be eaten and not played with, but is seemed even he didn't dare pick at her scabs today. So she suffered in silence while the rest of the school celebrated Halloween.

The young professor was trying to decide between eating her pumpkin pie or just foregoing the meal all together when Quirinus Quirrell came sprinting into the Great Hall. In her distracted mood she hadn't even noticed his absence from the staff table. Now fully alert, she saw true terror in her colleague's face. His turban was askew and he was panting.

"Troll!" He gasped. "In the Dungeons! Thought you ought to know." Then he collapsed. There was an uproar among the students immediately. Everything from panic to excitement was expressed in the few minutes it took for Dumbledore to gain control of the school.

"Prefects!" He rumbled over the crowd. "Lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Like a well oiled machine the prefects sprung in to action. Right away they were gathering younger students and leading groups of each house safely out of the Great Hall. Heads of House were dispersed to their own houses for roll call and other emergency proceedings. The rest of the staff was dispersed through the school to find the troll. Nora felt someone grab her arm as she headed towards the dungeons.

"There's something I have to do." Severus told her seriously. "Please, ensure my students are safe. The password, is _pureblood._ " She agreed to take care of it and he let her go.

"No one is to leave this common room, not until it's safe to do so. Is that understood?" A chorus of 'yes ma'ams' rang out from the Slytherins ten minutes later. All the students had been accounted for and Nora left them safely sealed in their common room before leaving to join the search for the troll. In the hall of the dungeons she bumped into Severus and Minerva.

"Elenora, have you seen your nephew?" Minerva question with worry.

"No. I haven't seen Harry since we evacuated the Great Hall. Is he missing?" She asked worriedly. She felt her chest constricting and a pressure building in her head. Harry was missing. It was Halloween night, ten years after his parents died.

"It would appear that he and his friend Ronald Weasley have gone missing along with Hermione Granger." McGonagall explained. "Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

"No." Nora shook her head. She regretted that she knew so little about her nephew. "I'm sorry. I've no idea where they could have gone off too. Let me help look for them."

"Of course. We must find them as quickly as possible." Minerva turned on her heals and stomped off down the hall. The Gryffindor Head of House did not like having any of her lion cubs missing.

"We'll find him." Severus placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Take slow deep breaths."

"But Sev, it's Halloween." She gasped.

"I know." He said, now dragging her by her elbow. "I'll help you look for him. We will find him."

And find them they did. A large crash was heard from one of the corridors that connected to the Great Hall. Together Minerva, Severus and Elenora arrived in the girls bathroom to see Harry, Ron and Hermione standing over an unconscious Mountain Troll. The thing must have been twelve feet tall! It's skin was granite gray and its legs were as thick as tree trunks. Severus bent over the troll, checking for signs of life. A very relieved, Elenora raced over to her nephew and held him protectively at her side.

"What on earth were you thinking!" Minerva asked in a cold fury. Her lips were white and she looked angrier than any of the children had seen her thus far. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"Professor please," The girl called Hermione Granger began quietly. "They were looking for me. I went looking for the troll because I thought I could deal with it on my own. You know, because I've read about them. If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now." Ron Weasley's wand dropped to the floor in surprise. The last thing he had expected was for her to lie to the professors, especially since one of them was Harry's Aunt. Both boys tried to avoid eye contact with each other so as to give her lie more credibility.

"Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived." Hermione continued to explain, thankful that neither boy contradicted her story.

"Well, in that case..." Minerva seemed to be thinking of what exactly to do with the three troublemakers. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a Mountain Troll on her own?" Hermione hung her head. "As a result, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione nodded and started off down the hall.

"Well, I still say you were lucky," Professor McGonagall finished, now looking at Harry and Ron. "but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown Mountain Troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

"If it's alright, Minerva, I'd like to walk them up to the tower myself." Minerva nodded silently and Nora dragged the two boys off, one under each arm. "Miss Granger!" She called out the eleven year old girl as they caught up to her near the end of the corridor.

"Yes, Professor?" She asked, looking up at the Potions Master over her shoulder.

"I'm going to walk you all back to Gryffindor tower." The professor explained. "That was very brave of you, lying to Professor McGonagall like that." She said to Hermione as the four of them walked up the Grand Staircase. Now the three children were exchanging a look of worry. "Don't worry, I won't tell."

"I'm very sorry I lied!" Hermione apologized at once. "I only thought...Ron and Harry really did save me from the troll and I didn't want them to get in trouble."

"Like I said Hermione, I'm not going to turn you in. I'm not talking to you as your professor right now, I'm talking to you as Harry's Aunt. Now I don't know how the three of you came near that troll and I don't want to know, but if you three ever do something so reckless and dangerous again...Right, Aunt not professor...nice work, all three of you." They had climbed to the seventh floor and were almost at the Fat Lady portrait that guarded the Gryffindor common room.

"We should have gotten more than ten points!" Ron grumbled now that he realized they weren't in trouble.

"You should be honored Professor McGonagall gave you points at all. She hates rewarding rule breakers more than any other professor at Hogwarts. Having been on the receiving end of her lectures many times myself, I can tell you she must have been very impressed by the three of you. I know I was. If I could just ask one favor," Elenora said. "The next time you three decide to get into trouble, make sure it's not on Halloween, alright?" The three kids nodded in unison. "Okay, then you best get into the common room. I'm sure the rest of Gryffindor will love to hear your story."

"The troll's been removed from the school." Severus assured, when Nora entered their shared sitting room that night. He was reading a book and didn't bother glancing up at her as she flopped down on the couch.

"Why didn't you join the rest of the staff for the conclusion of the feast?" She rolled over on her stomach and rested her head in her hands on the arm of the couch.

"You know why." He said glaring over the cover of his book at her. She frowned sympathetically up at him, her hazel eyes tracing the features of his face. He said nothing before withdrawing his wand and giving it a wave. A slice of cake and glass of wine floated over Nora and landed on the side table between them. "I wasn't sure which would be more appropriate, so I thought perhaps you might indulge in both."

"Mmmm Double chocolate cake _and_ red wine. You spoil me." Though after the night she had, she felt she deserved a bit of spoiling. "What, no fork? And how do you expect me to eat my double chocolate birthday cake?" She pushed herself up off couch and was already half-way to the kitchenette before Severus replied to her.

"It's a chocolate raspberry actually. and you are more than capable of getting your own eating utensils." She portioned out another piece of cake and brought it over to Severus with two forks.

"Have some cake." She ordered her best friend. He turned up his nose at the dessert despite the fact that he was the one who had made it.

"It's much too sweet."

"Well why did you make such a sweet cake if you won't eat it? just one slice!" She begged.

"Very well." He slapped his book closed and put it to the side. "Consider this your birthday present." He grumbled, picking up the plate she offered out. "And ignore that package tucked under the coffee table."

"Well now that you've said it I can't very well..." She dove under the table and pulled out the present he had wrapped in scarlet gift paper. "A camera!" She gasped, removing the packaging around the camera.

"You missed many of your nephew's formative years," He explained. "I thought you ought to at least have a chance to capture the moments you do get to witness. And this cake is still too sweet." He scraped out his half-eaten cake in the trash bin in the kitchenette before swooping off to bed.

"I don't think it's the cake you're worried about being too sweet." She remarked with a knowing smile before taking a sip of her wine.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you too Mrs. JaganshiReidofHufflepuff, bubzchoc, SoccerDiva for your reviews of Chapter 9! I'm glad to see that Harry and Elenora's relationship is coming across well to all of you, and that you love Snape's sarcasm. His lines are some of my favorite to write.**

 **Also thank you to** **Outofthisworldgal for your review to of Chapter 5! I completely understand what your saying about wanting Elenora to have checked up on Harry during his childhood. But I think that she, like the rest of the wizarding world at the time, put a lot of faith in Dumbledore. She trusted him that Harry would be taken care of and as soon as it became clear that he wasn't she fixed things. Plus 11 year old Harry wasn't really "Angry Harry" he doesn't come around until third or fourth year. So maybe when he gets older he will be mad at his aunt for leaving him with the Dursleys, but for now he is too grateful to be upset.**

 **As always thank you to everyone for favoriting, following, reading, reviewing and enjoying this story! I will be posting new chapter updates ASAP.**


	12. Eleven

"Best of luck to your team today." Severus said with a grin as he and Nora headed down to the Quidditch Pitch the morning of the Slytherin vs Gryffindor match. It was a well-wishing he had shared with her every year since they were first appointed as professors. Gryffindor has always faired decently against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and so, much like everything else, Slytherin had become the most compatible rival.

"I have a good feeling about this year." She smiled back. They climbed their way up to the staff box and she adjusted the Gryffindor scarf around her neck.

"I'm certain you do." He grumbled. They found two empty seats next to Flitwick who greeted them with a squeaky gusto.

"Hello Severus, Nora, this will be quite a match today, eh? If that nephew of yours is half as good as James was..."

"You've got some fancy flyers on your team Filius and they've got a lot of trick shots in their playbook." Nora pointed out. "I wouldn't count Ravenclaw out of the cup just yet."

The teams began walking out onto the field. Loud cheers from Gryffindor and Slytherin came as their teams reached center field. Marcus Flint of Slytherin and Oliver Wood met together for the customary handshake and then the players were mounting their brooms. Gryffindor was the first team to gain control of the quaffle and as a result was the first team to score. Slytherin got control of the ball next as the golden snitch became visible on the field. Harry tried to catch the snitch but he was body checked by Flint. This led to a foul being cited against Slytherin. So Gryffindor once again found themselves in possession of the quaffle but Alicia Spinnet missed her shot. Harry began flying erratically around the field as Slytherin held the ball.

"He's lost control of his broom." Elenora gasped.

"It's been jinxed." Severus mumbled. He immediately began a counter jinx and tried to gain control of the broom himself. She began to wring her hands with worry. She felt so useless. There was nothing she could do and with hundreds of people in the crowd there was no way of knowing who had cast the original jinx. It could be as simple as a harmless prank from a Slytherin student or as emergent as a downright attack. Severus could tell without even looking at her that Nora was imagining the worst in her head. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but all of his efforts were currently concentrated on keeping that nephew of hers from crashing to the ground.

One by one people around the stadium seemed to be noticing the strange behavior of Harry's broom. Students from all four houses were pointing up at him from their seats in the stands. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom gave a wide jerk and he was swung out of his seat. He was hanging from the broom with just one hand.

"He's going to fall!" Elenora said jumping to her feet. And then, all of sudden, Severus' long black robes were on fire. Several other professors including Quirrel and herself whipped out there wands to put the blue flames out. The distraction was enough to save Harry and his broom from their jinxer. He swung his leg up, remounted his broom and took off in search of the snitch once more. But his broom was pitched the wrong way, he was falling quickly. He landed in the grass of the pitch on all fours. He was coughing violently and then something gold fell into his hands.

"I've got the Snitch!" He shouted, waving the ball high above his head. The game ended. Gryffindor had won.

"Congratulations, Nora." Flitwick squeaked from her side as the professors began filing out of their box. "I look forward to seeing our two teams together. It seems Harry is indeed a good player."

"I'll save you a seat at the match, Filius." She promised as the Charms professor descended down the stairs.

"Aren't you going to rush the field like the rest of your insufferable house?" Severus commented as the Gryffindor Team hoisted his their new star seeker up over their heads.

"Nah." Nora shook her head watching her nephew revel in his win. "Let him have his moment. I just glad that he is alright. Thanks to you."

"Don't mention it." He insisted. It might have been an expression, but she knew that coming from Severus, he most likely meant she was never to speak of the entire event again.

"How are your robes?" She changed the subject as they themselves started descending down the stairs.

"Nothing a small mending charm won't fix." He shrugged. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Ron, Hermione and Harry came running over, the latter still in his Quiddich uniform. Severus saw this as an opportunity to excuse himself and return to the castle.

"That was so much fun!" Harry panted. "I love flying."

"And you're a natural." His aunt said slinging her arm over his shoulder. "And you're alright? Not hurt at all?"

"No." He promised. Harry _was_ fine but he worried if he so much as got a bruise during the game Aunt Ellen might not let him play anymore. She seemed like the type to worry about things like that. It was strange having someone who worried about him getting hurt. He'd never had a relationship with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon like that. In fact they probably won't even notice him missing at all if it weren't for the fact that they now had to cook and serve their own meals.

"So, what are you kids up to today?" Aunt Ellen asked, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Going to try and take down a Sphinx or maybe a dragon?"

"We're just having tea with Hagrid." Hermione assured.

"Any idea where we could find a dragon, though?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Doesn't your old brother Charlie work with them?" Professor Potter laughed. "I suppose he could help you find one. but I really don't think you're mother will allow that."

"Yeah. Probably not." He frowned.

"I won't keep you much longer, but before you go, I want you to have these." Aunt Ellen handed Harry a small bundle of scarlet and gold. "They're your father's lucky socks. He wore them to every match. Our mother, your grandmother, knit them when he first made the Quidditch Team his second year. After he left school, he gave them to me. I was a decent Beater on my own but I swore his lucky socks made me better. I know you've gotten a lot of your cousin's hand-me-downs over the years, but I thought just this once something used might be appropriate." Harry looked down at the bundle of socks and smiled. He'd never had anything that belong to either of his parents before.

"Thank you." He said quietly. He tucked the socks into his robe pocket. "I'll wear them to the next match."

"I was hoping you'd say that." His aunt smiled back. "You three better get on to Hagrid's now or he might think you've changed your mind about visiting. Have fun and tell him hello from me." She watched the three of them make their way through the grounds and over to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the forest before going back into the school.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to misswitlock16, FlammableBatman978, Radio Free Death and bubzchoc for your reviews of Chapter 10!  
**

 **FlammableBatman978, OMG the idea of Lockhart flirting with Elenora! Snd Snape just being there to make sure he knows his place is in the friend zone...Oh now I can't wait to get to year two!**

 **Radio Free Death, oh my bad I thought semicolons were used to connect two similar ideas. Also I'm a little unclear what it is exactly that you dislike about my prologue. I understand that it touches upon things that a lot of fans know about, but so does most fanfiction. I thought it did a decent job of establishing the plot without giving to much away. Compared to say prologues from books like Twilight that are just lazy copy-and-pastes from later chapters. If you could clarify what exactly you meant that would be helpful. :)**

 **Thank you as always to everyone who has taken time to read, review, favorite, follow and enjoy this story! New chapters soon. :D**


	13. Twelve

The morning after Harry's first quidditch match Elenora decided it was finally time to clean out that desk of hers. So after breakfast she went down to her office and began sorting through the papers that had piled up over the years. She hasn't been at it very long when someone knocked at her office door.

"Come in!" She invited the visitor. Harry, Ron and Hermione nervously entered the office. "You three ever go anywhere alone?" She joked as the kids made their way across stacks of paperwork and up to her desk. They stared at each other, having some sort of secret conversation with their eyes.

"Okay, something's up. So everyone take a seat." Immediately Hermione and Ron sat at the vacant chairs in front of her desk. Harry looked uncertain as he sank into his aunt's chair. Elenora dragged over Severus' personal chair and smiled. "I don't want you kids to ever be afraid to come of me about something. I can't promise that I won't get angry but I can promise not to shout. Whatever it is, I'm here for you so, What's going on?"

"Do you know about anything that might be hidden in the school?" Harry asked finally.

"Well, Hogwarts is centuries old. I'm sure there's lots of things hidden around the school. What exactly are you looking for?" Aunt Ellen leaned forward in her chair.

"We're not looking for something." Hermione explained, biting her lip. "We think we accidentally _found_ something."

"I'm listening."

"Dumbledore's got a three-headed dog guarding something up on the third floor." Ron said.

"The third floor? Would that be the third floor that Professor Dumbledore explicitly said was off limits to students?" Elenora crossed her arms.

"It was an accident!" Harry said. "The staircase moved and it was late at night Ron and I were lost..."

"Are you going to report us to Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione worried.

"No, Hermione, I am not going to report you. Like I said, I want you to be able to come to me about things. I'm not going to turn you in over something that was an accident. As long as you promise me that you won't go back there again." All three kids nodded in agreement. "Now, what makes you so sure it's guarding something?"

"There was a trapped door under its foot." Ron answered.

"Aunt Ellen we think that...someone...is trying to steal whatever Fluffy is guarding."

"Say _Fluffy_ is sitting guard over something, and I'm not saying he is, who do you think would be trying to steal it?" The three kids looked at each other again. This was where coming to talk to Aunt Ellen would be tricky. They knew she would not believe them when they fingered their suspect.

"Professor Snape. "Harry admittedly quietly. He then rushed to explain himself before his aunt would interrupt him. "On Halloween, the night we were attacked by troll, he had this giant cut on his leg. He covered it up with his robes once he knew that I saw. And yesterday Hermione and Ron saw him jinxing my broom..."

"Professor Snape wasn't jinxing your broom." His aunt defended. "He was..."

"I know a spell when I see one." Hermione argued. "And Professor Snape wasn't blinking! He was completely focused. And then as soon as I set fire to his robes the spell was broken and Harry was able to get back onto his broom."

" _You_ set fire to Professor Snape's robes?" Nora raised an eyebrow.

"We had to!" Ron exclaimed.

"Listen, Professor Snape did not Jinx Harry's broom. I was sitting next to him. He was performing a Counter-jinx to help Harry."

"But why? Professor Snape hates me. He is always yelling at me in class. He calls me lazy and arrogant..."

"I'm afraid that has nothing to do with you." Nora sighed. She started massaging her left temple. "How do I explain this…Harry your father was a great man. He was one of my favorite people in the whole world. But when we were in school, he had a tendency to be...a bit of a show off. As a result of this, he and Professor Snape were rivals in school. I'm afraid Professor Snape has allowed his rivalry with James to effect your education and I will be speaking with him about that. But I can assure you that he is _not_ trying to steal whatever that dog is guarding."

"So you admit that it _is_ guarding something!" Ron was now leaning excitedly at the edge of his chair.

"No I…What do you want to do for the Christmas Holiday?" Aunt Ellen changed the subject suddenly, taking them all by surprise.

"What?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Christmas Holiday. We can stay here at Hogwarts or we can go home. You could see the house that we'll be moving in to."

"I-I uh…what are you two going to be doing?" Harry asked looking to his two best friends.

"I'll be staying here. I've told my parents that I have too much studying to do." Hermione said.

"My brothers and I are staying as well. Mum and Dad are taking my sister Ginny to visit Charlie in Romania." Ron told them.

"Then I want to stay too." Harry told his aunt.

"Okay Christmas at Hogwarts it is then. Now any any other questions, because I _really_ need to clean up my office."

"Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Ron blurted out. Harry and Hermione rushed to shush him. "What? It was worth a shot."

"I have no idea." Nora shrugged. "You three should stop trying to uncover Hogwarts hidden secrets and start focusing on your school work. You'll have a grueling round of exams before the Christmas Holiday. I will talk with Professor Snape, you three go study."

Sensing they weren't going to get any more information out of her Harry, Ron and Hermione left the office feeling dejected. Nora almost felt bad that she hadn't told them everything she knew, but she understood that keeping them away from the Sorcerer's Stone was for the best. They had already proven themselves to have a knack for trouble. She did however, intend to find out just what Severus had done to his leg on Halloween night. She made a mental note to speak with him as soon as he came into the office. In the meantime she resumed cleaning her desk.

"What in the world is this mess?" Severus remarked as he stepped into their whirlwind of an office. His co-professor had papers, parchments and scrolls strewn all across the office.

"You're always harping at me to clean my desk, so that's what I'm doing."

"I'm sorry I was so unclear, when I said 'clean your desk' I did not mean clean your desk and leave the rest of the office a disaster."

"It's not a disaster!" Elenora huffed. "I've got everything separated into piles. It's all divided up by house from left to right you have Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. And I've got students who graduated within the last two years in that corner, students who are still in school are over there…and that very large pile is students who have graduated more than two years ago. It will all be cleaned up by Monday afternoon."

"I see. And why has my chair been moved?" He pointed to the chair in question that was still pulled up next to her desk.

"Right," she put down the armful of papers she had gathered up. "I wanted to talk to you about that. Harry and his friends were in here earlier and they seem to think that _you_ want to steal the Sorcerer's Stone." She leaned against the desk and waited for him to react.

"Me?" He raised his eyebrows. It was a reaction that lacked all the Severus Snape drama that she had been expecting. "And what reason do they have for suspecting me?"

"Well from what I've gathered you're not exactly kind to them." She accused. He didn't deny it. "You can't hold James' mistakes against him."

"He is lazy! He never puts in the effort to learn…"

"What about Hermione then?"

"The Granger girl is a know-it-all…"

"So Harry is lazy but Hermione is a know-it-all? You realize how cadgey that makes you sound right?" Nora put her hands on her hips.

"And what would you have me do?"

"Just be nice to them and stop sneering at my nephew!"

"I sneer at everyone." He grumbled.

"Well stop. You're a grown man! Of course the children are going to think you're suspicious when you're always sneering and lurking around the castle. Swooping around like a bat...fighting three-headed dogs on Halloween…"

"How did you hear about that?" He sneered.

"I'll give you one guess." _That meddlesome nephew._ He groaned in his head. "How bad was it?"

"It left a scar and I lost a fair amount of blood." He rolled up the left leg of his trousers and showed her a twelve inch long scar. It was pink and healed by then, but Nora could tell that it had initially been quite nasty. Severus let his pant leg drop again. "They're not wrong, someone did try to steal the stone but it wasn't me…"

"Quirrell." Her eyes widened with realization. "He brought the troll in and then told everyone in the middle of the feast to instill panic. Then he ran to the third floor…"

"Where I had already headed him off. I almost failed because of that blasted dog."

"But you didn't, right?"

"I did say _almost_ , didn't I? The stone is safe for now. Let's just focus our efforts on keeping young Mr. Potter and his friends away from it, let they draw more attention to it. I told Dumbledore that sort of thing ought not be kept at a school."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to , Shetan20, bubzchoc, Archivist613 & Misswithlock16 for your reviews of Chapter 11!  
**

 **Archivist613, I'm glad to hear that my changes haven't effected Snape's character at all, hopefully that is something that I can keep up for the duration of the story!**

 **As always thank you so much to everyone who had taken time to read, review, favorite, follow and enjoy this story! I really love hearing your opinions and answering questions, so if there's anything you want to know, feel free to ask either in a review or a PM! More chapters coming out soon!**


	14. Thirteen

The students and faculty were in high spirits as Christmas approached. Exams in every subject were wrapping up and it had come down to the final days of the term. The Hogwarts Decorating Committee, which consisted of Minerva, Fillius, Elenora, Filch and Hagrid, had gotten together and began their traditional holiday garnishing. As part of their duty to the school, the Prefects were also required to assist the committee with the decorations, a task many of them took on with pride. Several feet of snow were covering the grounds outside while foot after foot of garland was magically wrapped around the Trees of the Great Hall. All three teachers had their wands out using them to hang baubles, bells, stars and other ornaments while Hagrid and Flitch dragged in more trees from the outside. The Prefects were scattered along the house tables, stringing rows of popcorn garland and talking animatedly about the upcoming holiday.

"Is that the last tree then, Hagrid?" Nora asked when she noticed the half-giant dragging in a sizable fir.

"Yep it is. Where do you want it?" He stood the tree up on its trunk and three small shadows emerged from behind him. Harry, Ron and Hermione were staring around the room with gaping mouths and wide eyes.

"In the far corner should be fine!" McGonagall called over her should before returning to her work.

"Far corner it is then." Hargrid smiled. He started off towards the corner while the three children continued to marvel at the Great Hall.

"Christmas at Hogwarts is one of my favorite times of the year." Nora beamed, stepping towards her three favorite students. "I was a Prefect my fifth and sixth years and then my first year as professor I _begged_ Flitwick and McGonagall to let me on the Committee."

"The begging wasn't required." Flitwick piped from a nearby tree. "Minerva and I had been looking for someone to join us for years."

"What brings you lot in here anyway? Shouldn't you be studying for Charms?" She figured she might as well ask, being that Flitwick was within earshot.

"I've been studying all week!"Hermione volunteered proudly.

"We've just come from Potions. I don't feel like doing anything."Harry complained.

"We really should be getting to the library though." Hermione insisted.

"The library?" Hagrid joined them again now that he had settled the tree in its place. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh we're not working!" Ron blurted out. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to figure out who he is."

" _You what_?" Hagrid and Nora hissed at a the same time.

"Listen here," Hagrid fumbled. "I've told yeh to drop it! It's nothin' to yeh what that dog's guardinn'."

"I also seem to remember telling you three to leave it alone." Aunt Ellen said. She looked cross.

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all." Hermione tried her best to sound uninterested.

"Unless you'd like to save us the trouble and just tell us." Harry prodded.

"Not a chance." Aunt Ellen insisted.

"I'm saying nothin'." Hagrid agreed.

"Just have to find out for ourselves then." Ron shrugged. "Don't suppose we'll be able to have you sign off permission to the restricted section any time soon?"

"Go study for your Charms exam!" Nora said pointing towards the Great Hall's doors. "And if I hear from Madame Pince that any of you were so much as _staring_ at the restricted section of the library, you'll be cleaning cauldrons for the rest of your lives!" As the three children scrambled out of the room, she turned to Hagrid. "It was you who told them about Nicolas Flamel?"

"They have a way of trickin' information out o' me." Hagrid admitted, looking embarrassed. "But I'm not gonna tell 'em no more. They'll have to work it out themselves if'n they wants to know."

"I'm afraid they are going to do just that Hagrid." She said, now looking more worried than angry.

"Elenora," McGonagall called out from the corner where Hagrid had just tucked the last tree. She turned to look over at the Transfigurations professor. "Didn't you say Professor Dumbledore wanted to meet with you before Lunch? Why don't you go now? Filius and I can finish up here."

"Well, if you're sure." She nodded before patting Hagrid on the lower back. "Don't beat yourself up about it Hagrid. They're eleven years old. How much trouble can they really get into?"

And so she left for her meeting with Dumbledore, who was waiting for her in his office. He had a bundle of fabric out on his desk and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She would have recognize that bundle anywhere having seen her brother and his friends disappear under it many times. Without saying anything, or questioning how the bundle had come into the Headmaster's possession, she sat in one of the empty chairs opposite him, and waited. A beat passed and he said nothing.

"Afternoon Albus." She greeted him, hoping to prompt the conversation.

"Yes. It is." He nodded. "I've no doubt you know what lays between us Elenora, and I'm sure you have questions about how it came into my hands. Questions that I will be more than happy to answer. But first I must know, how is young Harry adjusting to our school?"

"As well as would be expected of a typical muggle-born." She answered slowly. "But, he does seem to excel at Quidditch. He also seems to also excel at mischief."

"Mischief?"

"Yes. Apparently during a visit to our favorite Games Keeper, he had his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, were given a few hints about Nicolas Flamel. While on a separate occasion they stumbled upon that three-headed dog of his. Allegedly on accident."

"Children are curious by nature, Elenora."

"Yes, but why does my nephew have to be curious about the most mysterious object in the castle?" She sighed. Dumbledore offered no explanation to this. He instead looked down at cloak that was folded up on his desk.

"Perhaps it won't hurt to indulge their fantasies if only on a short scale."

"You want to give him the invisibility cloak? James' invisibility cloak?" If Nora was being perfectly honest she was jealous that Dumbledore wanted to pass the cloak directly down to Harry. She had spent years coveting the magical object. When James died it seemed the cloak had disappeared with him, but now it was obvious it had been left with Dumbledore for safe keeping. "Are you sure that's the best idea?"

"As I've said, children are curious by nature. Maybe if Harry and his young friends have an outlet for their curiosity..."

"He'll be more likely to get into trouble. You know the kinds of things James and Sirius would get up to! What makes you think he'll be any more responsible?"

"I have no doubt he will not be responsible." Dumbledore smiled. "But how can we expect him to grow without making a few mistakes?"

"I see you've already made up your mind." Nora said, getting to her feet. "Why bother asking me then?"

"Now, now Nora, there's no need to be so upset." Dumbledore laced his hands together. "If I remember correctly, James was about Harry's age when he was gifted the invisibility cloak. Don't you think perhaps after what he's been through, the boy deserves a little fun?"

"What he's...The only reason that boy has suffered as much as he has is because I let you talk me into leaving him with those Muggles! Should have never...Lilly would have...Do what you want with the raggedy old cloak!" She snarled before storming out of the office.

Her mind was swirling. How dare he. Foolish old man pretended to be this mystic energy who knew everything. She should have never listen to him when he said Harry would be better off with Petunia and Vernon. If she'd have taken him in , if she would have raised him like James and Lily would have wanted, maybe he wouldn't be so curious about the world. Trapped in her thoughts, she didn't see someone coming up the grand staircase. Apparently they didn't see her either and the two bodies collided at the top of the stairs. wooden crate of potions fell to the floor and toppled down the stairs.

"Watch where you're going you blithering..."It was Severus. "Elenora." He sighed. He pulled out his wand and began using it to clean up the mess they had just made.

"Oh Sev, I'm so sorry. I just came from a meeting with Dumbledore and I was rather heated and I wasn't paying attention...I should have been..."

"I was on my way to the Hospital Wing to deliver these elixirs to Poppy before lunch." He explained, picking up the once again full wooden crate. "If you'd like to walk with me, I'd be willing to hear about your appointment with Albus." He tucked his wand away and began striding down the hall. She followed after him ranting the whole way about how Dumbledore had no right to tell her how to raise her nephew. Severus felt the makings of a smirk pull across his face. In such a short time she had already become so protective of the boy. He couldn't help but think that his own efforts to keep the boy safe had been lessened by her involvement.

* * *

 **A/N: Elenora and are I back everyone! I was trying to think of a good way to set up/work in Harry's first Christmas at Hogwarts. And that's all set now, so I hope you all enjoy! (Also a took a super thrilling day trip to NYC which delayed my progress immensely.)**

 **InitialsLK I'm so glad that you think Nora is great and that you find my pairing true to the canon universe!**

 **Archivist613 Nora's had lots and lots of practice at being disorganized!**

 **And now it's time for some shameless name-dropping! Thank you to KDaniels, InitialsLK, Archivist613, Bubzchoc, Sci-fi-rocks, LilianHathaway22, and 2 guests for your reviews of Chapter 12! I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 13, I can't wait to hear what you think!**


	15. Fourteen

"Christmas!" Severus grumbled. "What a ridiculous holiday. So many unnecessary expenses. People who ignore you all year suddenly expecting gifts and empty compliments..." Elenora rolled her eyes at him. She'd been hearing this speech, at least some version of it, every Christmas for the last ten years. Come to think of it, he complained about almost every holiday.

"Please tell me your Christmas gift to me this year is that I don't have to listen to you complain all day." She whinnied, before sitting down on the couch.

"If that's what you want, I suppose I can return the _very_ expensive _Pheonix Feather_ perfume I caught you ogling at in last month's copy of _Witch Weekly._ "

"How do you know what I was looking at in _Witch Weekly_?" She looked over at him, scandalized.

"Because when you thought I wasn't looking, I caught you rubbing the sample from the magazine pages onto your wrists."

"However do you find time to teach when you're spending so much of it sleuthing out a Christmas gift for me?" She rested her chin on her fist, half-expecting an answer. In response, Severus plucked up a package from under the over decorated two foot tall sapling of a tree that rested by the fireplace and tossed it gently at her. She caught it with the dexterity of a seasoned Quidditch player and smiled triumphantly.

"There's no point in opening this right away, now that I know what it is!" She observed, placing the gift to the side. "Why don't you go ahead and open up that flat green one from me?"

"Let me guess," he sneered bending down to pick it up. "It's a book of some sort. Very creative."

"You went through so much stalking to work out my Christmas gift, but you know so little about me to assume I would just get you a plain old book? Oh Sev, I'm hurt." She made a face to ensure he knew she was teasing. Just open it.

"There was no stalking involved." He grumbled sitting down in his favorite armchair. "I can't help it if your desk is in view of mine. Take it up with Albus if you want your own office."

Sighing he finally cast his eyes down at the emerald gift in his hands. Without another complaint he tore open the paper and gasped. Lily Evans was smiling back at him. It was a muggle photo that had been taken on platform nine and three quarters by Mr. Evans right before she and Severus boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

"Where did you… _how_ did you…" He stammered. Running a hand along the sterling silver frame. His mouth was dry and he was finding it difficult to speak.

"And you thought it was a crummy book." She smiled at him triumphantly. "At the start of September I went to Petunia and Vernon Dursely's house to collect Harry's things. As it turns out the poor kid doesn't have much…but you don't want to hear about that." She amended her story when she realized he was still grasping for words. "So when I went to collect Harry's things, Petunia gave me some boxes of stuff that belonged to Lily. Things that had come from their parents when they died apparently. I found that photo in the first box and I thought you might like to have it."

Severus stared down at the photo in his hands. He didn't think he'd see her again, yet there she was Lily Evans. She was young and smiling. Her arm was wrapped around his waist and they both looked genuinely happy. Before she started dating that moron, before she decided to marry him, before he called her...

"Please excuse me." He said jumping to his feet. The emerald green paper fluttered to the floor as he disappeared from the room.

"Sev?" She called after him, but he didn't answer. His bedroom door slammed shut and she heard the lock catch.

"Nice job, Potter." She sneered at herself in her best impression of him. She got up off the couch, ignoring the rest of the presents under the tree. She went to her own room and found her cat Zeus chasing a sock around. He meowed loudly when he saw his master enter the room. She gave him a quick pat on the head before opening her wardrobe and dressing for the day. She decided on Christmas red dressing robes which had a long ankle length hem, and long gossamer sleeves. She pulled a black wool cloak on over her shoulders stepped back out into the main living space. Severus still hadn't emerged from his room, so she decided to march off and bang on his door.

"Severus!" She called through the solid door. "Severus Snape open this door!" No response. "Don't make me charm this door open!" When he still didn't respond she withdrew her wand. "Aloha..." She got half of the unlocking spell out before the door swung open on its own. Severus was seated on his bed, his wand laying next to him. The photograph Nora had given him was still gripped between his two hands. She stood in the doorway not sure what to do. His eyes were red and puffy and he looked like he had been crying.

"Sev." She said quietly. "Tell me what I did wrong." There was a long pause where he didn't say anything and she didn't move from the doorway. At long last she couldn't take it anymore, she strode across the room and sat next to him on the bed. Tears were building up in his eyes. Elenora reached out and placed one of her hands on his. He looked up at her at last with red irritated eyes.

"I love her." He choked out. "And I said terrible things to her and I lost her because of it. She ran to that moronic brother of yours. She chose him over me. She's gone and I can't stop loving her." Tears were now pouring out of his eyes and all Elenora could think to do was squeeze his hand in comfort. "It hurts." He wheezed, grabbing his chest with one hand. "It hurts so much."

"I know. I know." She slid the frame out of his hands and place it upside on the bedside table before pulling him towards her. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. She knew that Severus and Lily had been friends and that he'd said something to her once that caused them to stop speaking, but she had never imagined that he had _love_ her. Had she known they certainly would have discuss this some time ago.

"He said he'd keep her safe! And then...she's gone!" He whaled.

"Sev, why did you never tell me? All this time I never knew."

"Embarrassed." He choked out. "Didn't want anyone to know. Least of all..."

"Least of all the sister of the man who stole her away." She nodded with understanding.

"I suppose you'd like to ridicule me." He pulled away from her. "Pathetic old Snape and his blubbering! So cold and alone." He growled, drying his tears.

"Do you really thing so little of me?" She frowned back at him. "You've kept this painful secret to yourself all along. Always listening to me going on about James...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I never paid attention enough to notice and I'm sorry that Lily herself never knew. And I'm sorry that no amount of apologizing will ever repair the hole that her death left in your heart. But you're not alone. I'm here. I'm listening now. You're my best friend, and I'd like to think that I'm yours too. Of course I'm not going to ridicule you."

* * *

 **A/n: And so that's Christmas Day part one! Sort of heavy, I know. And I hope I didn't make it too out of character for Snape to make such a big confession this early into Harry's years. But I just think that after having a close friend for so long his secret would come out much sooner than Harry's 7th year. Especially if he and Nora are going to start a relationship eventually, I think it's good to have his feelings about Lily out in the open early on!**

 **Fwe E, Like you I am usually very cautious of original characters, personally I find OCs difficult to fit into the canon universe and I think very few authors present their OCs well. But I am so glad to hear that you enjoy this story and that you ship Snape & Nora! **

**Nelleke, that seems to be the biggest challenge I have with this fic so far is the proper balance between scenes with Harry vs scenes with Snape. I don't want there to be too much of one and not the other and I want Nora's relationship with both characters to still seem natural, hopefully I can do that throughout the series!**

 **So huge thank yous to Patty Beau Hammond, Fwe E, Nelleke, The Archivist613 and guest for your reviews of Chapter 13! I hope you enjoyed 14, I will be back with the next one as soon as possible! As always thank you so much for favorting, following, reading, reviewing and enjoying!**


	16. Fifteen

So Severus found himself pouring his heart out to the girl he had once thought of as a temporary guest in his life. He had never intended to grow so attached to Elenora Euphemia Potter, but there he was crying on her shoulder like some bleeding-heart school boy.

"It was I who had told Dumbledore to put Lily and James into hiding. He had offered to be there Secret Keeper but they insisted on trusting Black." She knew that he was speaking of Sirius Black, the man who had been James' best friend through their school years. Shortly after the death of her brother and his wife, Sirius was charged for the murders of Peter Pettigrew, another school friend of theirs, twelve Muggles, and Lily and James Potter themselves. It has been revealed that Sirius had been a spy for Voldemort all along and he was convicted without trial.

"None of us could have predicted what he did." Nora tried to comfort him. "James and Sirius were like brothers."

"I should have seen it. I had been a follower of the Dark Lord myself." And then Severus launched into the tale of how he had overheard Great Prophecy of Sybill Trelawney. "I begged to Dark Lord to spare her surely she couldn't have meant that much to a man with such power...but he refused me."

"So you turned to Dumbledore, the only man he ever feared. Do you realize the course of events that you put into motion?" She was suddenly angry with him. There was no longer any sympathy in her eyes."If you'd have never told Voldemort about this...this Prophecy he never...You're as much to blame for their deaths as Sirius is! How could..."

"Nora, believe me I had no idea the damage I had done at the time. And I've been paying a debt for my crimes every day of my life." He seemed genuinely apologetic but she was too upset to lick his wounds.

"You know what, I can't do this right now. It's Christmas Day and I'm going to have breakfast and then spend the day with my nephew." She got to her feet and walked towards the door.

"You can't tell anyone!" He insisted as her had hovered over the knob.

"Who would I tell?" She hissed. "You were my only friend." She grasped the doorknob, turned it and strode out of the room.

By the time she strode out of the living quarters, out of the dungeons and into the Entrance Hall, breakfast had ended. She must have been talking to Sever... _Snape_ for longer than she thought. She briefly considered going to the kitchens to ask the House Elves for something quick, when she spotted her nephew bounding down the Grand Staircase with Ron and Hermione on his heels.

"Aunt Ellen!" Harry smiled when he spotted her from several steps up. "We were looking for you at breakfast. he explained. "I want to thank you for all of my gifts. They were spectacular!" In an effort to make up for some lost time, she may have gone a little overboard in the gift giving department. Having given the boy everything from a Galleon's worth of chocolate frogs to practical things like new uniform shoes and clothing. ( A huge thank you to Hagrid had been in order, because he still had Harry's measurements from their trip to Diagon Alley.)

"Well I'm glad you liked them. Everything fit just fine, then?" She noticed that he was wearing a new pair of trainers and a new pair jeans. "Oh and I see Molly has made you an honorary Weasley." She spotted both Harry and Hermione had been gifted hand-knitted sweaters form Ron's mother.

"Um yeah." Harry began tugging at the hem of the sweater nervously. "Ron said his mum's never made them for a friend before..."

"Well I'm very sorry that I missed breakfast. but I hope that hasn't ruined your Christmas morning."

"Not at all." The boy shook his head. "This is the best Christmas ever! Oh, and I wanted to give you this." He held out an object wrapped in an old copy of the _Daily Prophet_. She took it gently since the contents were unknown to her.

"Should I open it now, or would you like me wait?"

"Now, please." He insisted. "Hermione and her parents helped me get it so she would really like to you open it to."

"All right, let's have a seat on the steps then." She led the three of them over to the Grand Staircase and sat on the fourth step from the bottom. The kids joined her, watching with hopeful eyes. Using the utmost caution, she delicately unwrapped the newsprint from around the object. "A tea mug." She smiled picking up the plain white mug and turning it over in her hands. As it turned out it wasn't just a plain mug. The phrase ' _World's Greatest Aunt'_ was printed across the front of the cup.

"Hermione helped me transfer some of my money from Gringotts to Muggle money. Then we sent it to her parents who found it for us in a Muggle bookshop." Harry exclaimed. Elenora was choked up. She could put what she was feeling into words, so she blinked down at the mug, tears filling her eyes. He was so young and he had suffered so much, but instead of lashing out, he turned his feelings into giving. What happened next was just a natural, nurturing reaction. She reached forward, pulled her Nephew into a hug and kissed him on the forehead.

"Thank you." She whispered, encompassing Hermione and Ron in the hug as well. "Thank you so very much."

* * *

 **A/N: Wow what an emotional chapter! Still so many things to cover like Harry's Invisibility Cloak and the end of Sev & Nora's conversation, so I'm thinking there might be a Christmas Part 3, but I haven't really decided yet. While the conversation is still open I'd love to know if there are any issues you guys would like to hear our couple hash out. Otherwise just continue enjoying!**

 **Thank you as always to TheArchivist613, , Patty Beau Hammond, serenity selena, & miss witlock16 for your reviews of Chapter 13 and 14! New chapters to come out soon!**


	17. Sixteen

"Aunt Ellen, I wanted to ask you about one of my presents." It was late in the afternoon, Severus had locked himself away in the office, so Elenora invited her nephew and his friends into their sitting room. Harry and Ron were bent over a game of Wizard's Chess, and Hermione was gently stroking Zeus who had invited himself into her lap.

"Sure, Harry." She put down her half-full tea mug and leaned back against the wall of the couch.

"Someone sent me and invisibility cloak." He explained looking away from his game of chess. "There was a note attached," He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small fold of paper. "but whoever sent it didn't sign their name." His aunt took the paper from him, unfolded it and read it over.

 _Your father left this in my possession before he died.  
It is time it was returned to you.  
Use it well.  
A Very Merry Christmas to you._

"You're right there is no signature, but lucky for you, I just happen to know who sent the cloak." She handed the note back and sighed.

"So it wasn't you then?" Ron glanced away from his strategic chess plans excitedly.

"No." She shook her head. "It was from Professor Dumbledore. As the note says, your father left the cloak with him before he died. Dumbledore probably didn't sign it because he didn't want other students to see that Harry had received a gift from him. Even if the gift is something that already belonged to you."

"Is it okay that I keep it?" Harry asked. He very worried that Aunt Ellen might want to put it away for safe keeping or other such grown up things.

"It was a gift Harry, of course you can keep it." She promised, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and giving it a squeeze. "Now let me show you how to beat Ron."

Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of their morning with Aunt Elenora. They sat by the fireplace and played Wizard's Chess while festive holiday tunes played on the wireless radio. Hermione and Ron told stories about Christmases with their families and some of their favorite holiday memories. Harry asked a lot of questions about his mother and father and what their favorite things would have been at Christmas time. After lunch, the trio went off to find Fred and George who had been looking to spend some quality time with their younger brother.

After dinner, Nora found herself alone in the Sitting Room. A few unwrapped presents were still tucked under the small tree. She stared at them sadly trying to decide if she wanted to open any of them. (Or possibly deface some of Severus') In the end, she decided to fill her _World's Greatest Aunt_ mug with a sizable helping of wine and give the fireplace a melancholy glance. She knew she really ought finish her conversation with Severus.

He had only been nineteen years old. No one at that age could think clearly and certainly not given the status of the world at the time. He had made mistakes, but at least he had tried to make up for them. Leaving the Dark Lord, being her Secret Keeper and actually protecting her, becoming a teacher, these were all signs that he had changed; that he was capable of making change. If eleven year old Harry was able to forgive her for leaving him with abusive muggles she, as a twenty nine year old witch, ought to be able to forgive Severus for his faults and failures from a decade ago.

But he was off in another part of the castle sulking, and so she sat on the couch and sulked too. She sulked and she drank. Two mugs into her wine, Zeus curled up in Severus' armchair and fell asleep. It was late she was tired and she was upset. Halfway between mug number two and number three, she fell asleep, bathed in the warm glow of the fire.

Severus thought he was being sneaky as he quietly crept into his living quarters that night. But as the heavy door clambered closed, he remember you could only be so sneaking in a castle that was centuries old. Then that wretched cat hissed and scrambled off his favorite chair into parts unknown. One of the two noises caused his light-sleeper of a roommate to wake with a start. She peered over the couch groggily, and grunted when she spotted him.

"You're home!" She bellowed sarcastically. "and I'm leaving." Dragging herself off the couch, Nora started off towards her bedroom.

"It's late." He said pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have had enough fighting today, thank you." He started marching off. She stood stupidly in the middle of room as he glowered and grumbled his way across the living quarters.

"I don't want to fight." She yelled as his hand reached for the door. He turn to look at her, his face unreadable. "I meant what I said." She continued, stomping over to him. "I do think that you share some of the blame for James and Lily's death, but I don't think that you are as much to blame as Sirius. In fact my brother and his wife are probably more to blame for their fate then you are. If they hadn't antagonized Voldemort...The fact remains that you're the one who told him about this prophecy and I can't ever forgive you for that. You also saved my life, on more than one occasion no doubt, and I can't ever repay your for that either. I have all these conflicting feelings...It's like...Like I've been wearing glasses my whole life and you've gone and slapped them away. Nothing is clear and I don't know what to think...It's like a have to learn to see all over again. So it's not going to be easy, but I don't want to fight anymore either. I just want to know how to see again. You're my best friend." She reminded him with watery eyes.

"You...You are a remarkable woman." He blinked. "And I truly don't deserve such a kindness. Even if it's coming from my best friend."

* * *

 **A/N: So our power couple is at least speaking to each other again, but they're not 100% yet. This Chapter is a bit of fluff but hopefully not too much. I'm keeping it short today, so thank you to vartika . Jain . 7737, tyratdragon1, Patty Beau Hommond, Fwee FWEE, The Archivist613, & animexchick for your reviews of Chapter 15! Also as all ways please keep continuing to read, review, favorite, follow and enjoy! **


	18. Seventeen

The Christmas holiday passed, classes resumed and life at Hogwarts returned to normal. Along with the normality was the return of Quidditch. The next game was scheduled between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and the later had never practiced so hard. If they won this next match, Gryffindor would overtake Slytherin for the house championship for the first time in seven years.

"Don't look so upset. Your house has a chance at a big victory today." Severus said as he and Elenora walked out of the castle together.

"If I'm being honest," She pulled her cloak tighter around herself. "I'm worried you won't be a fair referee."

"Me?" He pointed his long fingers at his chest dramatically. "I am the exact definition of fair." That made her snort and crinkle her nose up in disbelief.

"Forgiveness isn't exactly one of pillars of Slytherin house."

"Because that attribute is the heart of Gryffindor?" He frowned.

"I'm working on forgiving you, aren't I?" She wrapped her arms around herself both as a reaction to the cold and the awkward tone that the conversation had taken. He sighed and looked away from her. It seemed all their conversations lately turned our this way. One of them would initiate a seemingly normal topic and after a brief exchange the whole thing would go south.

"Meet me after the match." He decided something suddenly.

"I always meet you after Quidditch. We have tea , grade homework together and..."

"Not at the castle." He grumbled, dropping his voice as they were getting closer to crowd of people entering the stands. "Meet me under the Gryffindor banner, wait until most everyone has left so we're not followed."

"Followed?" She repeated. "Where are we..."

"After the match." He insisted before pushing his way through the crowd.

"You must be excited about today, Elenora!" Flitwich squealed as she took a seat next to him. "Big match today."

"Big match indeed." She nodded. "But let's not forget Hufflepuff's seeker, Cedric Diggory's got a few years of experience, isn't that right, Pomona?" She turned to Professor Sprout who was seated behind them, smiling.

"Always the gracious competitor, Nora." She nodded with approval.

"We professors are suppose to remain objective." Nora shrugged. "Though, I can't deny that personally I would be overjoyed if Gryffindor overcomes our losing streak at last."

"There's no room for diplomacy on the Quiddich pitch!" Minerva added from next to Sprout."All due respect, Pomona, I hope we crush you today." All three heads of house laughed at that and the match started.

Minerva would certainly get her wish as the game that followed lasted no more than five minutes. The teams were barely hovering over the grass before the snitch was released and Cedric Diggory hadn't even seen the ball when Harry went diving between he and Snape. The youngest Gryffindor on the team triumphantly held the fluttering little golden ball between his fingers tightly as he hopped off his broom, landing with his feet firmly on the ground. Gryffindors rushed from the stands to the field in celebration and leading the charge was their Head of House and Professor Potter.

"That was amazing flying, Harry. You've truly inherited your father's talent." Aunt Ellen beamed before giving him a victorious kiss on the cheek. He felt his face redden in embarrassment. She kissed him on the cheek in front of the whole school! He wanted to be mortified like Ron most likely would if it were his mother, but Harry had never had a relative who cared enough to embarrass him. So he could lived with flushed cheeks and taunts from Malfoy, because he had a family. And he had won the most important Quidditch game in the last seven years.

High in spirits from their well deserved victory, the Gryffindor students led the way back to the castle, most of the Quidditch team not even bothering to change out of their uniforms. The rest of the school followed suit and preparations for that evens dinner began. Elenora told Minerva, and anyone else who had asked, that she was going to stay after the game to help Severus put away the supplies. Once most of the school had returned to the castle, she snuck under the Gryffindor banner and waited.

"Follow me." Severus whispered, stepping out of the shadows several minutes later. He began marching off, leaving her to scrambled after him.

"Sev!" She hissed, chasing after his impossibly long legs. "Wait for me will you?" He slowed his pace, but not by much. Nora was still struggling to keep up as she followed him into the Forbidden Forest. He offered his hand out to her, but only after she tripped on a root and fell to the ground. "It's impossible to see in here." She complained accepting his open palm. "Where's my wand...Lumos!"

She cast the spell and Severus stopped walking. They weren't very far into the forest but they also weren't alone. Quirrell was there and he looked pale. Though it could have been due to the faint blue glow of her wand light, Elenora suspected some other factor was in play.

"D-don't know why you wanted t-t-to m-m-meet here of all p-places Severus." Quirrell stuttered out.

"Well I thought perhaps we could keep this just between you, Elenora and myself." Severus remarked in an icy tone. "Students aren't suppose to know about the Sorcerer's Stone after all."Quirrell began to stutter incomprehensibly."Have you figured out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I..." Was all Quirrell managed to get out.

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Snape assured him firmly.

"I-I Don't know what you..."

"You know perfectly well what I mean." Severus insisted, taking a step closer to the other man. A beat passed and Quirrell said nothing. "Very well." He straighten himself up again. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."He plucked up Elenora's free hand and dragged her out of the forest.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" She whispered once she was confident they were far enough away from Quirrell.

"I wanted you to see that I am capable of keeping that meddlesome, infuriating, problematic nephew of yours from harm. If I squeeze Quirrell hard enough he'll give up his pursuits and that trio of Gryffindors you favor won't feel the need to raise up their wands and defend the castle against imaginary threats."

"You're...trying to protect Harry?" She asked. Her voice cracked as a lump of mixed emotions rose in her throat.

"Did you hear anything I've just said?" He snarled dropping her hand. "Next time I'll tell you it's because I simply enjoy bullying Quirrell. Ridiculous woman! How can you not see...We're late for dinner!" He sneered before storming off.

* * *

 **A/N: Firstly let me say InitialsLK, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your commentary as you read your way through the chapters that you missed!** **Let me also thank** animexchic, misswitlock16,  & Patty Beau Hammond **for your reviews of Chapter 16! S** **econdly I must say how grateful I am that this story has gotten as successful as it is so far.** **A writer is truly nothing without readers, and I love this story in the most humblest of ways. It is one of my favorites, and not just because of its popularity. I really love the idea and I love that I'm getting to do something new with favorite characters. So thank you so much for reading this story and enjoying!**


	19. Eighteen

As much as Elenora hated to admit it, Severus' bullying of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher seemed to have worked. Quirrel, at least for the time being, had stopped any suspicious activities. Which meant that Severus was no longer seen sneaking lurking through strange parts of the castle. So Harry and his two friends also stopped sneaking and lurking to the same strange parts of the school. The year was drawing to a close and Nora was sure her nephew would make it through the rest of the year without incident. Of course she really should have known better.

"I don't know Minerva, this was one of the best exam years I've graded." She told her Gryffindor mentor. The pair of professors were standing in the Entrance Hall late one afternoon completely unaware of the events that were about to be set in motion.

"Yes well the same can't be said for Transfigurations. Next year I will have to go back to the basics if any of the upper years plan on passing their exams." The Head of House turned her nose up in disgust. She couldn't believe how poorly her older students had performed during that year's examinations. The main doors of the castle burst open suddenly. Harry, Ron and Hermione came sprinting into the castle.

"What are you three doing inside?" McGonagall snapped. They were supposed to be on their way to a Herbology exam with the rest of the first year Gryffindors.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said.

"Why?" Nora asked, narrowing her eyes at her nephew and his friends. A facial expression she was becoming all too familiar with.

"It's sort of a secret."

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent letter from the Ministry of Magic and flew off to London at once." Not that it was any of their business Minerva found herself thinking.

"He's gone?" Harry gasped. " _Now_?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Mr. Potter, he has many demands on his time..."

"But this is important!"

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"Look," Harry sighed. "It's about the Sorcerer's Stone..."

"How do you..." Minerva stammered out. Of all the things, she certainly hadn't expected her young student to say that.

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. In the meantime Professor McGonagall and I can assure you and your friends that the Stone is well protected. No one is going to steal it, so I suggested that you three turn around and get to your exam." Aunt Nora flashed Harry a very serious look before she and Minerva parted ways. He knew that she was going to be disappointed in him, but if she wasn't going to stop Snape he knew that someone had to.

"It's tonight." He said once the teachers were out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note. I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up." He was expecting his friends to agree, but Hermione just gasped. Harry and Ron wheeled around to see Snape standing behind them.

"Good Afternoon." He greeted them. They gaped up at him. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this."

"We were..."

"You want to be careful." Snape continued. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it? Be warned Mr. Potter, any more nighttime wandering and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you." He slinked off leaving Harry with a small bit of anger boiling inside.

Down in the dungeons, Elenora sat in her office flicking scraps of paper into a waist bin. She was trying to think about how best to help her nephew. He seemed adamantly convinced that the Sorcerer's Stone was on danger. Like Minerva, her natural reaction had been to dismiss the idea. But Severus himself also seemed to think there could be a threat to the Stone; Quirrel. But was Quirrel really capable of such an act? She highly doubted it. Rubbing her eyes, she got up from her chair. Leaving the mess of papers scattered around the floor Nora left the office and headed to her room. The school year was almost over and she decided it was about time she began packing for home.

"There you are!" Severus hissed as he came down the dungeon stairs, bumping into his co-professor. "That nephew of yours is up to no good!"

"Is he still going on about you-know-what?" She rolled her eyes. "Minerva and I have both already told him to let it be."

"It doesn't appear as if that will be happening any time soon. I just caught the Granger girl lurking outside the staff room; as if she were keeping watch. And earlier this afternoon I caught the three of them conspiring in the Entrance Hall."

"Me too." She sighed. "He's not going to give this up is he?"

"I think not." He frowned. "There was talks of apprehending me this evening. They seem quite convinced that I will be stealing an object I promised to protected."

"I was hoping the stubborn Potter gene skipped a generation." She groaned. "Well, what do we do?"

"We?" He raised his eyebrows dramatically.

"Yes, you and I. I can't keep track of those three by myself." Nora pouted. He hated when she did that.

"Watch them. Follow them." He suggested, ignoring her juvenile expression. "If they try to save the unthreatened Sorcerer's Stone we save them before Hagrid's beast or Pomona's tentacular plants cause them too much harm. Though we could do nothing. It would save us both a lot of trouble..."

"You're the worst best friend. Have I ever told you that?" She stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

"It's not difficult to be the worst best friend when you have only one friend." He countered.

"I hate you." She sneered with a playful smile.

"You'd be lost without me." He smirked because they both knew it was true.

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 **A/N: So I'm back to Nora! (kind of) I want to wrap up Sorcerer's Stone within the next few weeks and get started on Chamber of secrets so hopefully you will be seeming more frequent updates for this story soon! I'm sorry that I was away for so long, I've been working on an Avengers fic that I sort of fell in love with. Anyway I have lots of ideas for COS, and can't wait to get started on them!**

 **Airiles'Malfoy You commented in Chapter 14 about how Nora says harry is adjusting like a "typical muggle born" I know that Harry is a halfblood and I was not speaking about his blood status here. Just saying that since he was raised by the Dursleys who are Muggles, he was adjusting to Hogwarts at the same pace a muggle born would. I hope this clarifies things a little!  
**

 **I would just like to add a quick thank you too Patty Beau Hammond, Archivist613, Animexchick, serenityselena, InitialsLK, GONEiam, Applejax XD, Airiles'Malfoy, and 1 Guest for your reviews of Chapter 17 and your continued support for this story! Hopefully more updates to follow soon! Thank you again and please continue to read, review, favorite, follow and enjoy!**


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